To be married or not to be married
by Mooncat99
Summary: Steph has a crazy plan to save Ranger - that of course backfires. But maybe for this one time, that might not be such a bad thing. BABE!
1. Chapter 1

Title: To be married or not to be married

Author: Mooncat

Rating: M

Summary: Steph has a crazy plan to save Ranger - that of course backfires. But maybe for this one time, that might not be such a bad thing.

Warnings: Some strong words, warnings for torture and attempted rape. Angst.

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters from the Plum world, they belong to J. Evanovich.

Copyright: Sarah Diaz, 2009

_**To be married or not to be married**_

**Chapter 1**

"Mrs Manoso."

Lester stabbed his elbow into my side and I looked up. The hotel manager stood in front of me, looking at me with a frown.

"Mrs Manoso?"

What? Oh yeah, right... "Yes, yes, that's me."

She held out an envelope. "I have a message for you."

"Thanks," I murmured and took it from her, looking at the exclusive writing on the envelope. Mrs Manoso, Hilton Hotel, Boston. I stroked over the golden letters, mesmerized.

"If I may ask, how long have you been married?" the manager asked with a smile.

"A day," I answered absentmindedly, still staring at the envelope.

Lester's elbow once again connected with my side. I jerked up. "Uh, I mean a month. It feels like just a day though," I added, darkly.

No wonder, it _had_ been only yesterday that I've signed the marriage license.

"It took me a while to get used to my husband's name too, but you'll see, you'll get used to it soon enough," the manager assured me. "If you need anything, don't hesitate to call me or the reception." She looked at Lester. "Mr Manoso."

"That's not R... Carlos. Lester's my bodyguard," I corrected, earning a look from Lester. What? That was what I was supposed to say, wasn't it?

The manager's eyebrows rose. "Your husband leaves you alone already? With another man even? I bet you miss him, only so soon after your wedding."

"Yeah," I answered quietly. I did miss him. Terribly. "But it couldn't be helped." Especially as he had no idea that he was married recently to me at all. I felt my composure slip and strained to smile politely at her. She was quite chatty, that woman. "If you'll excuse me now, I'm afraid I need to get ready for a - meeting."

"Sure. I hope everything meets your expectations. Mrs Manoso." She smiled at me a last time and then left at last.

Lester closed the door after her. "Bomber, you need to be more alert."

"I'm trying!" I huffed and turned away from me, hugging my arms close around me. This wasn't easy on me. I was worried sick about Ranger and at the same time I was nervous how he'd react once he learned what I and his men had done. Okay, well perhaps I just hoped more that he had an opportunity to get mad at us at all but boy, he was going to be so mad.

"This was your idea, Bomber. If you can't go through with it fine, but you need to say so now. After the press conference is over, there will be no going back anymore," Lester said, urgently.

I took a deep breath and moved over to the balcony. The view was wonderful. The penthouse suite was exquisite. Yet, I couldn't draw any pleasure from either of them. All I could think of was Ranger and what he must be going through right now. Was he out there somewhere, in one of the buildings I was looking down now? Or did they bring himsomeplace else? It reminded me just why I was here in this penthouse suite in the first place and my back straightened. "No, it's all right. I can do this. We _will _do this."

Lester sighed. "Okay. I need to talk to Tank, see how far he is with the press conference. You should make yourself ready."

I listened to his footsteps walking away to the other room, the door softly closing behind him and let out the sob I've been trying to keep back ever since the manager had handed me the envelope. Pressing my lips together, I looked down at it before I opened it, drawing out the documents gingerly. There was the marriage license on top of it. For a moment, I stared at my name and signature next to Ranger's.

Mine was real. Lester had forged Ranger's. Tank had assured me that no one would be able to see the difference, not even Ranger himself, Lester was that good at forgery. And apart of the forged signature, it was even a legit document. Tank had insisted that if we did this, it had to be for real. The people that had Ranger weren't stupid, they wouldn't fall for fake documents. So we blackmailed a judge who owned Ranger big time to sign off on the marriage license with a date from a month ago and Lester acting as a stand-in for Ranger. The rest of the documents were of similar character, forms and papers that now declared me as Ranger's wife giving me access to his stuff and money. To round everything up, there were even a few pictures. I didn't know where they had the pictures of Ranger in a tux from. I had spent an hour in a bridal shop yesterday to slip into a wedding dress and have the pictures that showed me in my wedding dress taken. Now there were pictures showing me and Ranger together on our wedding day, one even of us kissing.

If I didn't know it better, I'd bet my life that they were real.

Of course, we were betting Ranger's life on them to be believed real.

Tears welled up in my eyes and I threw the envelope and everything else on the next table and turned my back on them.

Ranger was going to be livid, once he learned what we've done. And yes, I was worried about his reaction but I was way more worried about him. I wanted him back, that was all that counted. In the three weeks since his kidnapping we were able to find out who had him and why - but we weren't able to find them or him and the last hints or clues we had turned out to be busts three days ago. That was when I came forward with my idea.

We knew they wanted certain critical information from Ranger. No one had any doubt that Ranger was ever going to break. Sooner or later, they would recognize that as well and then they would most probably just kill him.

I couldn't let that happen.

My plan was crazy at best. Possibly even suicidal.

I didn't care.

It took me a while to convince Tank and the rest of the Rangemen to go along with my plan. In the end I simply told them I was going to this with or without their help and there was nothing and no one who was going to stop me. It was enough for them to jump on. I guess they secretly had wanted to go along with it from the beginning, but were too scared because it went against every order Ranger ever issued to them in relation to me.

The plan may be crazy - but it was just crazy enough that it might work. My instinct told me it would work. It had to.

They needed Ranger to talk. Which he wouldn't. So we were going to give them the one thing that might make him talk after all. The woman he loved, his newly wedded wife.

Me.

So I became Mrs Stephanie Michelle Manoso, born Plum, and I was going to tell that the world in about half an hour, pleading the people who had kidnapped my dear husband for his safe return, offering to pay any amount of ransom they wanted.

Of course, they wouldn't want money, as we knew only too well. No, we wanted them to know about me so they'd kidnap me and lead the Merry men to Ranger by following the tracker that was placed in my neck yesterday as well. We counted on them wanting to use me to get Ranger to talk.

It would work, I just knew it in my bones. I wanted Ranger back and if we could do that by using me, so be it. There was a big possibility that I was going to get hurt, at least a little, I knew that, and I wasn't looking forward to it, but in the end, I didn't really care. Anything to get him back.

Ranger would just have to deal with that. He had saved my life so many times since we've met, had done so much to keep me safe from all the lunatics that seem to just have waited for me to cross their paths, bleeding money, now it was my turn. It was my life and my decision if I wanted to risk it for him or not, and damn it, I wanted to.

I needed to.

Because I loved him. God, I loved him so damn much. The thought of losing him, of maybe never seeing him again - it was unbearable. I had to do whatever I could to save him. Even if it involved maneuvering him into a marriage I knew he never would want. After all, he may love me as well, but he didn't do relationships and a ring wasn't to be expected from him.

I fingered the simple golden wedding band Tank had given me. It didn't matter.

If it just got him back, that was the only thing that mattered. And if this saved him, I didn't care about the consequences. Ranger could always just annul the marriage. Obviously, it wasn't legit after all. He could fire his men and distance himself from me. It would hurt, very much, no doubt, but never as much as losing him to death.

For the time being, I was legally his wife and by God, I planned to make the best out of it - and if it killed me.

* * *

Ninety minutes later, we were back in the suite, Tank with us this time as well.

"Now what?" I wanted to know, facing him.

"Now we wait," he answered calmly. "By evening, your plea to the kidnappers will go over every local channel. By morning, I expect a couple of national channels to pick it up as well. If nothing happens in the next two days, I'll see if we can make it international."

From what we had gathered, Ranger had been kidnapped on his way back to his office building here in Boston from a meeting he had attended with some contract partners of his. We learned that the Chinese sleeper cell was behind his abduction, apparently wanting to talk to him about the whereabouts of certain documents and quite an amount of money Ranger had been involved in to steal from the Chinese in order to prevent an attack on the USA. It had been one of his government jobs so I only knew the most important basics and even those Tank had been reluctant to give to me. I had to call up a few favors myself to get the official green light for Tank to tell me that much. Luckily, my father still had had some contacts from his time in Vietnam and had been able to get me that clearance.

I sat down onto one of the couches but jumped up immediately again, choosing instead to pace restlessly. "I hate waiting."

No one commented that. Then again, I didn't think it was big news for any of them. Heaven knew I wasn't exactly famous for my patience. That was rather Ranger's thing.

Ranger...

What wouldn't I give to have him with me right now. He was always so calm and reassuring in situations like that. Tank and the Merry men were calm as well, but that had only little effect on me, not even close to how much Ranger was able to calm me.

Once again I had to fight back tears. They wouldn't help Ranger and only make Tank and Lester uncomfortable. But it was getting harder and harder to hold them back in front of them and as soon as I was alone, I was a complete basket case.

If we didn't get Ranger back soon...

But we were getting him back. Everything was in place. Now it was just the Chinese coming for me that was still left out and then we would finally get to Ranger and get him to the nearest hospital.

That he might already be dead was not even a possibility in my book. Ranger was tough. He was batman. He was the shit. They most likely had hurt him, badly probably even, but they weren't going to kill him. They couldn't.

This was a rescuing mission, nothing else. I just wish we could finally come to the actual rescuing part.

For once, I got my wish.

That same night, the Chinese came for me.

Mission accomplished.

* * *

TBC

_(Author's note: Hope you like it. Reading the latest book and then the whole series all over I started with two stories even and I've worked on some old ones. Here's one of them. I'm working on the next chapters, the next one is finished already. Hopefully it continues to flow like this. Sorry for any mistakes, but I'm not a native English speaker. I try my best to have it correct though. Enjoy!)_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

When I heard the door opening, I braced myself for another round of 'interrogation'. I had lost count on how long they had me now and just what all they've tried already to make me talk.

They should have known better. I was a fucking Ranger. We rather died than betray anything. We were trained to withstand interrogations as we were trained to do them ourselves. It didn't matter how hard they hit me or how many drugs they gave me. I wasn't going to give them what they wanted.

But then I guess they were coming to the same conclusion. I've felt their frustration with my silence already, had suffered from it. The force with which they hurt me had become more vicious and the last dose of whatever drug they've tried then had been an overdose. They've just barely brought me back.

Stupid.

They should have just let me die then. Soon, they were going to have to kill me anyway. I wasn't going to talk and obviously, they couldn't just let me go. Looked as if death finally got to me. Heaven knew he had tried it often enough in the past though lately, it's been pretty quiet. Perhaps why they got me in the first place.

No.

The team that had kidnapped me had been good. Quick, coordinated, thorough and too many that I had any chance to escape. As it was, I was pretty sure I had taken down three or four guys. Shit happened in my line of duty, that was just the way it was.

I wondered if now was the time they came to finish me off or if they wanted to try yet another round of useless torture. Not that I cared that much. I wasn't afraid of death. I wasn't suicidal either though and would hang on as long as I could. There was always the chance of escape. A slim chance, no doubt, but a chance none the less. Or maybe even a rescue, though that was the least likely. This may be a consequence to one of the jobs I've done for the government, but it had been the kind of missions where you were on your own if something went wrong. Especially if the shit hit the fan months after the original mission. Still, there were my men, most of them with a similar background as mine. They had contacts, they had resources and most importantly, they were good. For sure they were already looking for me. There was a possibility they'd find me after all.

Either way, I was prepared for what fate had in store for me.

Or so I had thought.

I didn't like the grin on Wang's face as he stopped in front of me. "I have a present for you."

He motioned with his hand and two of his men I've come to know only too well emerged from the shadows in the background, holding someone between them, the head hidden behind a black hood so all I could figure out was that it was a woman. Deep inside me, something stirred, but I ignored it and focused back on Wang. "Hurting that woman instead of me won't make me talk either."

Admitted, it would make it harder, but even if I talked, they were going to kill her anyway. Her life was already lost. It was a harsh way to look at it, but that was how it was in real life and what they taught us in interrogation training.

Wang's smile only grew wickeder. "Oh yeah? You so sure? Even if it's your lovely newly wedded wife?"

_Huh?_

"You were clever, you tried to keep it secret. A shame really. It was pure luck that we found out about your wife."

What the fuck was he talking about?

He moved over to the woman and ripped the hood off, dooming her to certain death with that single gesture. Frightened blue eyes adjusted to the sudden light, took her surrounding in and then focused on me, widening.

My heart stopped and then plummeted to my stomach.

Shit.

For a terrible long moment, my mind was blank, too shocked to come up with anything. Once I snapped out of that stupor, I tried to save what little I could. "I don't know who gives you your information, but it's crap. This woman means nothing to me. Let alone am I married to her. Not to her, not to anyone."

Wang raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

I nodded tensely, forcing myself to look at him and him alone.

"Hmm. How come she'd been clutching this in her hands then when we got to her?" He held up a framed picture for me to see. A wedding picture. And damn if the guy in a tux kissing my Babe in a wedding gown wasn't me.

What the hell was going on here?

Still, I struggled to keep my best indifferent face in place and even managed a shrug, not an easy task if you hang from the ceiling, believe me. "Pictures can be faked. I'm not married and she's nothing more than an occasional fuck."

Out of the corner of my eyes I saw her flinch and that small gesture hurt more than whatever the Chinese have put me through. But it had to be this way. The only chance left she had was that they believed she meant nothing to me, slim as it was in the first place.

The smile was back, and this time it was pure sadistic. "If that's so." With two strides he was back in front of her and ripped her shirt away. My shirt with my firm's name over her left breast. As it had been the only thing she had been wearing apart of her panties, she now stood there more or less naked and I saw her body tremble as she ripped her eyes away from me to stare up at Wang, the fear she felt palpable.

My muscles tensed but I forced myself to keep still. It took everything I had but it would get so much worse if Wang noticed that I was _livid_.

He ripped the tape band from her mouth and she moaned at the sting but only for a second as next he brutally forced his mouth onto hers as his hands grabbed her breasts roughly. He yanked her around so he could look at me as he continued to force himself on her.

Whatever he saw in my face or eyes, it was answer enough. He pushed her away, laughing loud and triumphant. My Babe stumbled into me and she latched herself at me, letting out a sob. "Carlos!"

_Carlos_? Since when did my Babe call me by first name? Not that I complained, even under these circumstances my name on her lips sent a shiver down my spine, but damn, it wasn't a smart move in front of the enemy. She buried her face into my neck. "Oh God, Carlos, I've been so worried! I thought I was going crazy! But what did they _do_ to you?"

The anguish in her voice hit me directly in the heart, as did the tears that dampened the skin on my neck or the trembling I could feel as she pressed herself against my battered and numb body. I wanted to put my arms around her but they were chained and kept me hanging from the hook. "Shh, Babe, I'm fine," I whispered.

It was a mistake I knew it, but then, Wang wasn't going to buy her meaning nothing to me anymore anyway and I just had do try to reassure her at least somewhat.

Her hold on me tightened. "Cielo," she whispered into my ear, only for me to hear and I stiffened. Cielo? It was an old code word between Tank and me. It meant rescue was on their way.

Suddenly she yelped as Wang yanked her back at her hair, shoving her towards his men. The little one, the sick pervert, locked her in an iron grip. She struggled against it and I could see him taking more than one grope. "Get your fucking hands off me!" she hissed, kneeing him. His grip slipped as he his face left color but he didn't let go completely. After a moment he had regained enough to slap her hard before securing her once again

My jaw clenched as I tried to somehow get off the fucking hook. I just needed to get down and then I would be over there with the chain wrapped around his neck.

"Talk."

I slid my eyes to Wang who watched me coldly. We both knew it was only a matter of time until I cracked. By God, he had found the one thing that would make me talk, even knowing perfectly well it wouldn't save her in the end anyway. When I said nothing, his knife I've learned to know only too well flashed and my Babe let out a little cry. Seconds later blood welled up from the cut he had made over her breasts. If that wasn't enough, the other man, the sadistic fat one, bowed over her and licked at the cut.

Every last restraint I had snapped and my vision turned red. Distinctly I heard someone screaming and first thought that it was my Babe until I grew aware that it was Chinese and words that I doubted my Babe would have even known in English or Italian or Hungarian. Must have been me then. With a roar, I crashed to the floor, my legs giving out under me after hanging in the air for so long. I didn't know how I finally managed to get off the hook nor did I care about my unwilling legs. I barreled into Wang, knocked him down. I didn't lose time and snapped his sorry neck. It was too good for the motherfucker but there was no time for a slow death. There still were two enemies left and they had my Babe.

Where the fuck was Tank with that rescue team?

Sick Boy had her in an air lock. She was fighting like hell, but she was going to lose in the end, I knew that. Against some guys not even the best of training could have helped her and this was one of them. I honed in on him but just before I reached them, Fat Boy rammed into me, knocking the air out of my lungs. His fists crashed into my long broken ribs but I've blended out the pain a long time ago. Besides, the only thing I was feeling right now was blind rage and endless desperateness. They had my Babe. Failure was not acceptable. I grabbed his throat with my left hand, just remembering that most fingers on the right hand were useless since they've broken them, and squeezed. Both hands would have helped more but I managed a fairly decent grip. Fat Boy tried to break my hold, but I kept squeezing.

This was taking too damn long! And in the meantime, Sick Boy was slowly strangling my Babe. I tried to squeeze harder, wriggling out of his grip, but the asshole wouldn't bulge or die.

Suddenly, the door crashed down, the walls exploded and the room swarmed with men in black. My men. For the split of a second, Tank's face swam over me before he was gone, taking Fat Boy with him, removing him from on top of me. Breathing heavy, I only could lie there on my back for a moment before I had enough air back in my lungs to struggle up to my elbows, scanning the room for my Babe.

There she was, on her knees, with Bobby beside her, wrapping his jacket around her. My heart started to beat again. She was alive. Safe.

_Gracias Dios._

Her eyes met mine and she pushed Bobby away, the jacket falling away as she scrambled over to me. "Ranger? Oh God! How do you look? Those animals!"

Her hands ran over my body, up and down. It stung here or there, not that I minded. Mostly, her touch only soothed. Especially my still erratically beating heart.

"I could kill them for doing this to you!"

My eyes fell onto her breast, still bleeding from where Wang had slashed her. And I could see more bruises form on her pale skin. "Likewise," I croaked. I couldn't detect any sound of fighting so I guessed Sick Boy and Fat Boy were being dealt with. I hoped my men would have a little fun with them for me. At least I had been able to get my hands on Wang before they came, taking care of him myself. Though it hadn't been satisfying punishment enough for my taste.

Not for what he'd done to my Babe. He had scared her. Had touched her. Had hurt her. No, his death had been way too good for him.

Soft lips I'd recognize everywhere crashed onto mine, halting any dark thoughts of revenge as she devoured me in a kiss that was pure fire, pure adrenalin but most of all, pure passion. Any other time, I would have rolled her under me and claimed her as mine once and for all but as it was, the adrenalin that had had me going was draining out of me fast and I could barely lift my arms to grab her anymore. Darkness was starting to close in my vision.

Her lips let go of mine and her big and so beautiful blue eyes swam into my vision, staring into mine with alarm. "Ranger? Carlos?"

Again Carlos. I felt her hands stroking down my cheeks and I caught a flash of gold. A ring. On her ring finger. A _wedding_ ring. And not just a ring but one I recognized in a heart beat. I frowned.

"Babe?"

I saw her lips moving but it was too late. The darkness had caught up with me at last and engulfed me completely.

* * *

TBC!

_(Author's Note: Thank you all for the wonderful reviews! I'm very glad you liked the first chapter so much! Hopefully this one as well. Enjoy - and the next chapter will come soon, promise!)_


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Ranger was fine.

Okay, perhaps fine wasn't the right word, but we got him back, he was alive and he was going to be fine, although his injuries were many and quite a few of them pretty serious if I understood the doctor's recount correctly. But he should be fine, the doctor had said that, without hesitation, without a grave or even grim look and as arrogant and full of himself as all doctors usually were. Healing would take time though and as so much was hurt, the doctor wanted to keep him in a drug induced sleep for a while longer to make it easier on him.

Tank shook his head. "No. He won't want that."

I glanced at him. He was right, of course Ranger wouldn't want that, he wouldn't be in control if he was drugged. Rather suffer through unnecessary pain and hey, if we were already on it, why not leave the painkillers out as well. After all, they could make him fuzzy in the head. What a sacrilege.

Luckily though, he was still out cold so it wasn't his decision. Nor was it Tank's for that matter. "Do it."

Tank's eyes cut to me. "Bombshell…"

"I'm his wife and I want you to do what you can so it will be the least painful for him," I told the doctor and thankfully, he nodded and left to hopefully do as instructed.

Tank turned me to him, his grip strong around my arm. "Stephanie…"

I held up my free hand. "I know, I know, it's not what he'd want. I don't care. He's tough, we all know that so he hasn't got to proof it to anyone. He's been in enough pain in the last three weeks, those animals made sure of that. And even with letting him sleep for a while longer he still will be in enough pain to play hero again soon enough. It won't hurt him to be treated like a normal human being for once."

Tank stared at me, his mouth one tight line. But he didn't protest anymore. Score one for me! The doctor came out of Ranger's room and nodded at me. Good. "Can I see him now?"

It wasn't the first time I asked to see him. So far my demand had been denied. This time though he nodded. Not that it would have mattered. I wanted to see Ranger and I wanted to see him now. The doctor went off to take care of his other patients and I turned to go into Ranger's room.

Tank stopped me though. "You should take care of that cut first."

My hand went to my chest. The cut. I had almost forgotten about it and now I felt it stinging. I hadn't wanted to move too far away from Ranger until now. Some irrational part of me had expected the Chinese to show up and whisk him away again. I still did. "Later."

"Bombshell, if you get an infection, Ranger will kill me."

At some point, this argument was just getting old. "Tank, you agreed to a plan that left him married to me, used me as bait to get to him and deliberately had me kidnapped and hurt a little in the first place. If he's going to kill you or anyone else you're as good as dead already anyway. I'm going to have the cut looked at, I promise, but first I'm going to see Ranger. Now either get out of my way or cover your crown jewels because in about then seconds I'm going to ram my knee into them."

Okay, so maybe I was a little impatient and fed up. But in the last forty-eight hours I've been married, held a press conference, was kidnapped, knocked around, pawed on, brutally kissed, cut, licked on, almost strangled, had to find the man I loved badly hurt and watched him, the master of control, snap and that all after having had to worry for three weeks about Ranger already, wondering if he was even still alive. I haven't had a decent sleep in as much time, hadn't eaten much either and all I wanted was a moment to collect myself, and damn, in order to achieve that I had to see Ranger and know that he really was still alive and back with us. He may be unconscious but I knew that just being with him would finally give me some peace again. I just needed to be with him for a while.

Tank watched me for a moment longer, then stepped out of the way to let me through.

I was in Ranger's room in a flash, the door closing softly after me. Taking a deep, relieved breath, I went over to Ranger, grabbed his hand and just held on. Even with his naturally darker skin he had inherited from his Cuban ancestors, he was alarmingly pale, at least the little skin that was visible. Most part of him was bandaged, casted or so badly bruised it was black, blue or yellow. A few burns I could also detect and I quickly looked away, concentrating on his face only. Like a miracle, it was probably the least marred part of his body.

Somehow it was a solace.

Bit by bit, the tension I've built up in the horrible past three weeks left my body, leaving me exhausted. I looked around for a chair. There was one, but I would have to let go of his hand to go get it and somehow, I couldn't bring myself to let go. Oh well. I hesitated only a moment before I climbed onto the bed and snuggled into Ranger's side, laying my head onto his chest. Beneath my cheek I felt his heart beat reassuringly strong. With a sigh I closed my eyes and relaxed for the first time in ages as it seemed to me.

I've been just on my way to leave for my parents and my mother's pot roast when the Boston RangeMan called in to report the boss missing. Tank and the others hadn't wanted to take me with them but I would have nothing of that bullshit. I was going and that was that. Half an hour later I sat in the plane on the way to Boston with the best of Ranger's men. I hadn't called anyone, not even to cancel dinner with my parents, my thoughts only with Ranger.

When I finally remembered to turn on my phone again, I learned that there was quite a riot upturned in Trenton in search of me. My mother had called Morelli, Morelli alerted his colleagues in the police, my father the cab drivers and Grandma Mazur Connie and Lula. As no one had an idea where I was, they were thinking I was missing, kidnapped even. To be fair, with my history, it wasn't that farfetched a scenario. It took a while to convince Mom that I was fine and not being held at gunpoint to convince her that I was fine. Thank God Dad had finally picked up the phone, I explained the situation shortly to him and he said to take care and he'll handle the family. Next I called Joe, just in time before my 'disappearance' hit the papers. He'd been quiet for a long time after I explained where I was and then he only wished me good luck. It had been strange.

We've been off for a while now. There had been a moment where we reconciled after our blowout over the peanut butter, but it had only been for a night. When I told him in the morning that I was going back to RangeMan for part-time work, he'd been a jerk again and saying nasty things about Ranger that basically led to an unspoken ultimatum that either I was with him or I worked for Ranger and was single.

I chose to be single.

But honestly, did I perhaps demand that he'd stop working with Teri Gillman? Or to quit his job even? No. Because I didn't believe in changing people. I knew Joe was worried about my habit to stumble into big trouble and I understood why he didn't want me close to Ranger. He wasn't blind, he knew that there was something between Ranger and me – just as I knew that there was something between him and Teri.

I wasn't sure if he loved her – I was pretty sure though that he knew that I loved Ranger so perhaps, he had reason to worry. Still, he also knew that I loved him too and he should know that he could trust me. No matter how tempted I was, I would never cheat. Never. I've been the scorned wife once and even if my ex-husband was a moron and a dick, I wasn't going to do that to anyone.

If Joe couldn't understand that it was probably better we stayed off until he got that – or until we admitted that there was a good reason why we couldn't keep our relationship on for a solid time, let alone forever.

Letting out a deep sigh, I opened my eyes to look up at Ranger and softly stroked over his cheek.

A while back, Ranger had been shot several times into the chest in front of my eyes. He'd been wearing a vest but a bullet had still gone through, it was so close range. The madman had been taken down, but for the first time in my life, I've lost it. I've been a basket case, always repeating the moment Ranger walked into my apartment and going down in my head again and again. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't function, I could do nothing but shake. Joe had called me on it, saying he never had seen me like this. I told him it had been because I had known that either he or Ranger was going to walk through that door and that I was probably going to watch that man die. Then I told him that I loved him. I didn't tell him that I realized I loved Ranger in that moment as well. He accepted my explanation, never mentioned it again, and I believed it as well, really, I did.

Now though I wasn't so sure anymore.

From the moment I heard about Ranger missing I was a basket case once again. My hands wouldn't stop shaking, my heart raced at a speed that couldn't be healthy and my mind kept seeing him go down again or bleeding or badly hurt. Thinking straight became an impossible task for me. Short, I was in shock once again.

Thing is, I usually really was handling crises more or less well. With my life, I had no other choice that to keep a halfway level head in such moments.

Somehow though, when it was something with Ranger, I just lost it lately.

Do you know Hatari? It's an old adventure movie with John Wayne. In the movie, there's this sweet nice girl. Two guys are after her and are very open in their rivalry. They don't know that there is this third guy who is also in love with the girl, but he doesn't think that he's got a chance against the other two guys. They are hot, you see, and he's only the funny guy. Then the two hot guys have a pretty nasty car accident and are hurt. The girl, who's kind of the team's nurse, takes care of them, through and through calm, and John Wayne observes that she isn't in love with either of them because she's been so calm. He says you're never this calm if the one you love is hurt. And to proof his words right, later, the funny guy falls down from a fence. He isn't hurt at all, but the girl sees him fall and she's a basket case, ordering him bed rest, giving him all the ice the other two could really need more and of course confesses her love to him.

I always liked that idea, but I never thought much about it. Until now. Because truth was, a while back Joe was hurt and I'd been worried, but I hadn't lost it. Okay, it hadn't been life threatening, but I did watch him get hit by a car, he broke his leg and he lost consciousness. It wasn't nothing either. But I had not even one moment of hysteria or shock because of this.

On the other hand, this was the second time that I lost it completely over Ranger getting hurt. It took us two days to find Ranger's car. And the four bodies we all were pretty sure Ranger was responsible for. He wouldn't go down without a fight, we all knew that. We also found his watch, stark with dried blood and pretty sure it was Ranger's blood. I saw the watch and I was starting to faint until Tank pushed me into his car seat and held my head down between my knees. I continued to shake until I got back into Ranger's apartment in his Boston office. At last alone, I lost it for good. I threw up, I continued to shake and I had a crying fit that not only shook me to the core, it also wouldn't stop, apparently not even when exhaustion finally caught up on me and I fell asleep, my head buried into the cushion that still smelled like Ranger. It was damp when I woke up from a nightmare of watching Ranger being tortured.

And it only had been one bloody watch. I've seen my boyfriend get hit by a car and kept it together but a bloody watch of a friend (okay, perhaps more than that, but still not my boyfriend either) barreled through all my fences and hit me where it hurt the most. My heart.

I guess I could find reasonable arguments for this. Joe hadn't been hurt that bad, but with a fighter like Ranger, a bloody watch promised nothing good. I had been able to immediately see that Joe's worst injury was a broken leg but with Ranger I knew nothing, just that he was kidnapped, obviously with extensive force.

But I was too tired for denial. Here and now I admitted what I've known deep down for a while now. I _loved_ Ranger. I loved Joe as well, but it would never be the same. Never this all consuming and scary as hell feeling that had every single part of me in its clutches.

Ranger was _the_ guy, my guy, my big and only love, as sappy as that may sound.

When they finally brought me to him, I barely noticed anything than him. I didn't care about the blows, about the gropes, the kiss the boss forced on me and the cut I barely felt either. All I saw was Ranger, what those animals had done to him and the pain but also the shock and fear in his eyes when he recognized me. I listened to him denying me and my heart bled. Silly man. Did he really think they would believe him? But he tried to protect me, once again.

He always did, no matter what. It scared the hell out of me but I also didn't feel safer with anyone else than him.

This time though, it was my turn. And for the plan to work, I had a role to play. Not that it was hard to act, not at all. Not one single emotion had been faked, not the fear, not the worry, not the relief at finding him alive, not the outrage at what had been done to him. My only worry had been that I would slip on the name. He always had been Ranger to me, never Carlos. His wife obviously would call him Carlos though. But then, it hadn't been hard at all. I've seen him and his name had slipped so easily from my lips as if I always called him Carlos. Not just out loud, but in my mind also.

He had been surprised by that, and confused by the whole wife talk, I could see that.

Not that that had stopped him from doing the impossible. When the Chinese went a little too far for my taste and I desperately waited for Tank and the guys to storm the building, it had been Ranger, hurt and bound as he was, who saved me. I had no idea how he had been able to do that, with all the broken bones and other injuries he had suffered at the hands of those bastards, but it had been him who saved me, not his little army who had come to rescue him.

Then again, why was I surprised? He was Batman, remember?

I gazed at him, traced my fingers once again over the lines in his face. God, I loved this man so much. If he had died…

But he was fine. Thank to me he was fine. My plan had worked. It had saved him. But boy, he was going to be so mad. I didn't think he would appreciate it. Not the being married to me part and even less the using me as bait to get to him part.

Well, too bad. If he had a problem with that, he would just have to deal with it. I loved him and just like he, I would do everything to keep him safe, if he liked it or not.

I had him back, that was all that mattered and it was worth everything I had to face so far or still had to face as consequences to my plan.

And because it didn't matter, I kissed him, knowing full well that this might be the last time I could do this. Maybe he sent me away to a third world country or maybe he would simply disappear to keep his prized emotional distance from me. Maybe he'd run when I told him that I was in love with him and that from now on, my bed was open only for him or for nobody anymore.

After all, he loved me, but not the forever kind of love. His words, not mine.

Oh yeah, I was in deep shit. Still, right now I just wanted to enjoy having him back. So I settled my head onto his chest again, closed my eyes and promptly fell into a deep, content and most of all nightmare free sleep.

Finally.

* * *

TBC!

_(Author's Note: I'm glad to see you still like it and hope of course that will stay so. Here the next chapter - but sorry, the mystery with the ring won't be solved in this one. In the next though, so keep tuned in and enjoy this one until then. Thanks everyone for the wonderful reviews!)_


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

My head was fuzzy when I woke up.

Shit.

That could only mean they'd given me drugs. Ugh. They always made me fuzzy in the head, exactly why I usually refused any drugs when I was in the hospital. Tank knew this. Why hadn't he stopped them?

I got back more of my bearings – and grew aware of an unusual weight on my chest. With a bit of a struggle, I managed to open my eyes. Brown, curly hair was all I could see at first but it was enough. Babe. Some part of me relaxed instantly as I grew more and more aware of her body snuggled into mine, her deep breathing indicating her to be fast asleep.

With difficulties, I managed to free my right arm from under her and the covers and slipped it around her waist to hold her closer to me as I let my head fall back to try to remember what exactly had happened.

Business trip to Boston, meetings with clients, attack on my way back from the last meeting I had scheduled before going home to Trenton – hmm, I'd need to check out if that had been a trap or a coincidence – the fight, me being shot with tranquilizer darts and waking up in some cellar with Wang and his goonies ready to 'question' me. Preparing to die, then them bringing in my Babe, hurting _her._ My arm around her tightened. How the hell did they get to her? If we'd been in Trenton, okay, I perhaps would have understood it, but in Boston? I couldn't believe they went to such trouble to find her only to get me talking. That just didn't fit with those guys. No, she must have been here in the city already when they got to her, but why had she been here at all?

I frowned down at her. Then of course there was this strange thing about them believing her to be my wife.

Why on Earth would they think that? I wasn't fit for marriage, my life just wasn't cut out to let me be fully committed to someone as this most recent happening had shown only too well. Besides, I've tried marriage before, for about fifteen seconds only perhaps but I could very well do without a repeat of that nonsense. I was happy as a single man with an occasional fuck here or there and I never regretted to not be able to offer a relationship to a woman.

That was, until my Babe walked into my life, first becoming a desirable woman for a nice round in the sack, then becoming an interesting comrade and colleague to quickly develop into a dependable friend I wouldn't want to do without anymore and then…

Yeah well, there was where the problem began. For one incredible night she had become my lover and if I had to put a label on her, then _lover_ was probably what was fitting her the most but really, she meant so much more to me nowadays.

Truth was, for her, I'd wish I had a life that allowed relationships without automatically endangering the ones I was attached to. And to be honest, lately I've spent a great deal of time thinking about how I could maybe change that despite everything.

So I could offer her more than stolen moments here or there, more than an occasional night spent together.

Because if I wanted to be honest with myself, and that was something I always tried to be, it just wasn't enough anymore. Not for me and I had a feeling not for my Babe either. I felt that something needed to change, either us breaking off any contact whatsoever, what would be the sensible thing to do for sure – but also the one thing I didn't want, even after my worst nightmares. Not to mention that I wasn't sure it was an option at all anymore because I really wasn't convinced that I could still live without my Babe.

Or we tried the complete opposite: a relationship.

There were a lot obstacles with that option as well though. For one, there was Morelli. He had a claim on her and I knew she loved him, even if you ask me, he didn't deserve that love. Too often already had he hurt her and most importantly, he tried to change her. Tried to stop her from seeing me. To be fair, I couldn't blame him on that last one. In his place I sure as hell wouldn't allow another guy poaching her the way I did. And he wasn't a bad guy either, I knew that. But he was just wrong for my Babe and he didn't do her right. And change her? I admit, I'd be glad too if she knew a little more about self defense and ropes of professional bounty hunting, but I still would never want her to change. After all I fell in love with how she was right now, not the way she might be one day. Why she went back to him and let him do that time and time again to her was a mystery to me.

Then again, that may be my own fucking fault. After all I had sent her back to the cop after our night together in the first place. Back then, I only had the best for her in mind, really. Morelli loved her, wanted to marry her and give her children, not things I could offer her. Or so I thought. I tried to stay away, tried to give them space and time to hook up for good.

But they never did and boy, was I glad for it. As it turned out I couldn't stay away and also, Stephanie wouldn't let me stay away either, always drawing me back to her. I knew she was hurt by what had happened after our night together and by some really stupid things I said to her since then but she still kept coming back to me and let me touch her, kiss her – tell her how I loved her. Thank Heaven for that.

And I did. I truly loved her. I didn't want to believe it at first, to accept it, but at one point I just couldn't deny it anymore. I wasn't sure if it had been the time she moved in with me because she didn't feel safe anyplace else anymore, or the time she did everything in her power to help me save my daughter and that without me having to ask her first for help or her ever having met Julie at all for that matter. I honestly didn't know, but I loved her and since I had admitted that to myself I had to find a way to live with it.

Mostly that meant I protected her with all means I had. GPS, trackers, panic buttons, a constant bodyguard detail she only knew about when there was an open threat on her life and I had an excuse to do it openly. In truth, for almost a year now, I always had a team on her, 24/7. And it helped: it had been a while since she's been in mortal danger. For her standards. For any other person the situations she managed to get herself into it definitely would be considered mortal danger but for her it wasn't too bad.

Thank God.

Until now of course. The Chinese would have killed her for sure if Tank hadn't gotten to us first. And not just killed. They would have tortured her and most likely, they would have raped her, and all that because of me, so I would give them the information they wanted.

And madre de dios, I would have given them anything they wanted, even if I knew it wouldn't save either of us. If it would only spare her one blow less or the horror of being brutally violated, I would have talked.

That was exactly the reason why a man like me shouldn't get attached. It only brought harm: to the woman I loved and her family and friends, to my country and to myself.

The sunlight fell into my room and I caught a golden sparkle. Gritting my teeth, I struggled to lift her hand from my chest and stared at the golden band on her ring finger.

Then of course, it was already too late not to get attached to her. Official or not, she was the woman I loved and would sacrifice everything I could for and it wasn't especially hard to figure this out. She was my weakness but at the same time, she was also my strength. And lately it occurred to me that I already had her as protected as I could and it couldn't get worse if I made her my girlfriend.

Or my wife.

As it is, my will was long ago changed so she'd be the main benefit. I die and she will never again have to worry about money. My men knew that she was top priority, that her life goes before anything else, including mine or their own.

And boy, heads were going to roll for them having allowed the Chinese to kidnap her. That was inexcusable.

So yeah, I admit it, lately I even thought about maybe giving her that ring I always told her she could never have from me.

The ring she was wearing now, claiming her as mine and mine alone.

I couldn't remember hitching it up with her for good, I held no memories of me asking her to be mine forever and I sure as hell couldn't remember a weeding night or a honeymoon. If she really was my wife, how could I have forgotten all such vital moments in my life? Our life?

But she had called me Carlos and not Ranger and she never had done that before.

Also, I've spent several weeks being tortured. They shocked me and they gave me various drugs and serums. In training, we learned to blend out, forget even, so we couldn't tell anything. Was it possible that I'd made myself forget marrying my Babe? It almost seemed impossible to me but then again, why not? From what I understood, this was a rather recent development and Heaven knew she was the most important thing in my life, the most precious thing I had to protect at all costs. Still…

It could also explain why she was in Boston in the first place though. Surely, if our marriage really was only this recent, I would have taken her with me. I couldn't imagine wanting to already be apart of her. As it was with the status quo I remembered, it had become harder and harder to leave Trenton, even if it was only for a few days. Many times I had secretly wished to be in a position to simply ask her to come with me. I just didn't like to be too far away from my Babe. Not to mention that it seemed as each time I left town, something bad happened to her. A gang would put a contract on her head, a scorned woman believing to be my wife tries to kill her while my impersonator fixates on her and not to forget the crazy funeral home owner who kidnaps her and gives me the shock of my live. Oh no, I finally make her mine, I wouldn't let her leave my side if not absolutely necessary.

Then there was the ring.

I stroked over the ring, tenderly. Abuelo had given it to me on his death bed, telling me to give it the woman who would bring me down to my knees and beg her to take me, once I've come to my senses. Just like Abuela had done so to him. I hadn't thought I would ever give this ring to someone but it meant a lot to me and if I did, it would be this ring only and it wouldn't be to anyone else than Stephanie.

If I hadn't married my Babe, then why would she wear this ring, _my_ ring, instead of it being in the safe in my home where I've kept it and its twin since Abuelo's death?

There was no other reason, simple as that. The only way she could wear this ring was that I had slid it on her finger and I wouldn't have done that if it hadn't been for real. Besides, it felt right to see my ring on her finger, it felt right when she called me Carlos and it felt even better to think of her as my wife.

My Babe. My wife. _Mine_.

"Babe," I murmured softly, stroking over her hair, down her spine.

She stirred but didn't wake. That was all right. Sure, I had many questions, but right now I was content to just treasure the moment. I was alive, my Babe was alive and in my arms and she wore my ring on her finger.

For now, that was enough.

Kissing the top of her head, I entwined my fingers with her, enjoying the feeling of the cool metal against my skin. One last thought came to me though before sleep whisked me away.

Where the heck was _my_ ring?

* * *

Next time I woke up it was to someone entering the dark room. My hold on Stephanie tightened and my free hand automatically reached for the non existing gun.

Damn it.

Another reason to hate hospitals, they took your gun away, leaving me feeling naked and unable to properly defend myself if the need arose. Never a felling I liked much but now it was even worse. Now there was that much more I had to protect.

"Relax, man. It's me."

Some of the tension left me but only once Tank flipped on the light and came close enough that I could be sure it was really him and him alone did I actually relax. It was about time he showed up. There was a lot I wanted to know from my second in command, but first things first. I held out my hand. "Weapon."

Tank made a face but wordlessly reached back and handed me a small 22. Not my usual choice of weapon, then again it was small enough to hide easily. Always a good thing when dealing with hospital stuff as we knew only too well. I led it disappear under the covers and immediately felt better.

"How long?" was my next question.

He answered without a blink. "Three weeks since they took you, three days since we brought you in."

Three days? I've been out of it for three whole days? "Drugs," I spat with contempt. What if there had been another attack? I would have been fucking helpless!

"Yeah, they kept you under to give you time to heal. Said it would be more easy on you this way," Tank confirmed.

"You let them?" I wanted to know, sharply. He knew better than that.

But he held up his hands. "Wasn't me, Ranger." He looked meaningful at my Babe.

Oh. "You should have told her otherwise," I told him.

He shrugged. "I did. She didn't care." His lips twisted into a smile. "Said you can still play hero enough later."

Yeah, that sounded like my Babe, I thought with a mental sigh, looking down at her. I guess I should be annoyed but I really was rather touched. It was nice that someone cared this much to want to spare me pain. For years I've kept anyone at distance who might want that, including my Babe. She wouldn't stay at arm's length though, not lately. Not since Scroge. Oh well, now it wasn't important anymore anyway. Let her fuss a little, I guess as my wife she had a right to. Anybody else trying to do this though I would hand his ass to him.

As it was, I would need to have a talk with her and leave her instructions about my wishes for the next time. Because a next time was bound to come, someday. My life may be calming down a little, compared to my twenties, but there were still many enemies lurking in the shadows, not to mention the one's I haven't met yet.

No matter how much I loved my Babe and was happy about our marriage, I wasn't going to settle down and stay off the streets. Not in the immediate future. Maybe never. I needed the adrenaline, the rush, the excitement. I liked my work. But of course that wasn't an issue anyway. Stephanie would never ask me to quit my job, just like I wasn't going to ever demand a change of her profession from her.

Now wasn't the time to dwell on such things. Damn drugs. It was nearly impossible to stay focused with drugs in my system.

I focused back on Tank. "Report."

Instead of following my order though, his eyes slid to my Babe, still deeply asleep as it seemed, unfazed by Tank's visit. "What did she tell you so far?"

"Nothing," I said with a frown, wondering why he stalled like this. Tank didn't stall. "She hasn't woken up yet," I added and my frown deepened as my focus made a sharp u-turn once again.

Sure, my Babe was a heavy sleeper but even for her this kind of deep sleep was unusual. Judging from the darkness outside, it must have been hours since the last time I've woken up but it didn't look as if she had stirred since then.

The cut.

It had been a nasty cut and heaven knew what bacteria had all been on the knife. Wasn't she a little warm? What if an infection had set in?

"Calm down, she's fine." Tank's even, reassuring voice cut through my sudden panic. "The knife wound was deep, twenty-three stitches. I had the best plastic surgeon in town do it and he doesn't think it will leave a scar."

That was a relief to know. I didn't think neither her nor me could need the constant reminder of that terrible moment when the blade slid through her perfect skin whenever she lost the shirt. Because of me. I wasn't to forget it ever, but still, I didn't need to be reminded each time I made love to my wife.

That reminded me… I glared at Tank. "How could you let her be taken? What have you morons been doing? Sleeping?"

He cringed and looked nervous. Good, he had every reason to. He was my best friend but that wasn't going to save him. Not with my Babe's life at risk.

His eyes flickering anywhere but me, he shifted uncomfortably before he ate the bullet and met my narrowed gaze. "I'll explain, Ranger, but maybe it's better to wait until the sleeping pills are wearing off and Bombshell can add her side to the story."

My mind came to a screeching halt. "Sleeping pills?"

Tank looked as if he wanted to eat his words but he sighed, looking once again at Stephanie before concentrating back on me. "She needed it, Carlos. She hardly slept at all in the three weeks you were missing. Or ate for that matter. Shit, I had to slip her a sleeping powder several times so she caught some sleep at all. She was exhausted to the point of collapse and the doctor treating her for the cut agreed and ordered her sleep."

It was my turn to look away, my arm holding her closer. He was right, she was slimmer than usual and there were dark rings under her face. I hated to be responsible for that. I hated that she worried so much, even to a point to neglect herself like that. Another of those big reasons why I didn't do relationships. My life asks a lot of the woman who loves me, would subject her to a lot of pain, a lot of worry, I always knew that. But Steph's strong, stronger than anyone would give my Babe, even those who should know her best. If anyone can put up with what my life delivers to my woman, it's her.

We would need to have a serious talk about that as well though. Or did we have one already? I just wished I could finally remember the me being married to her part. And I promised her silently here and then that I was going to do my best to avoid any repeats of this latest episode. I couldn't promise it was never going to happen again, but that at least I could give her. And there was something else I could do, something I had wanted to do for a while now anyway. Or had I already?

"Do you know if I already talked with the General?" I asked Tank. He would probably know if I had, because as my SIC he'd need to know about such a decision and also because he was my closest friend.

His eyebrow rose and he looked at me, confused. "About what?"

"My retirement from the army. It's time." My thumb stroked circles on Steph's hip. "I can't do it anymore."

Tank looked at me as if he wondered about the amount of blows to my head and what damage they did. "You haven't mentioned anything. You really sure that's what you want?" He didn't sound as if he believed me.

I stroked over Steph's wedding ring and nodded once. "Yeah." I had no doubt whatsoever about this. "I have to anyway," I added, clenching my jaw. "I would have talked, Tank."

His eyes widened a little but he said nothing. We both knew what that meant. You found a reason to talk and break the oath that usually kept you alive and hanging on, that up until then had been the most important thing in your life, you needed to quit before your weakness was going to harm the very country and people you tried to protect.

My oath was still important to me, would be always. But it would never again be my first priority. That was Stephanie now.

My wife.

Which reminded me… "Do me a favor: Bring me my ring. It must be in my apartment, either in my night table or the safe."

I figured I had taken it off for the meeting. They had been mostly new clients and I didn't trust them yet. I hardly trusted anyone but my men and my family. And my Babe of course, but then she was family now. Wearing a ring was like wearing a big bright neon sign announcing that I was vulnerable. Something I avoided to do. That or the Chinese had taken my ring, but I didn't think so. Admitted, some parts were blurred, but I think I would have remembered at least that.

"Your ring?"

Growing impatient, I nodded, my fingers still playing with my wife's ring. "My wedding ring. I want to have it with me. I miss it," I admitted with a smile.

Dios, I was such a softy nowadays. But even if I didn't remember sliding my own ring on in the first place, I missed feeling it on my finger. It just didn't feel right. Of course, if it had been anyone else than Tank I would have rather wore rainbow colored clothes for the rest of my life than admit this out loud.

As it was, the look he gave me told me that this time, he definitely was worrying about the blows my head had suffered at the hand of the Chinese. "Uh, Carlos, I think you've got something conf…"

He was interrupted by someone pushing open the door and our focus immediately shifted to the newcomer as our hands moved to our weapons.

It was a middle-aged man who obviously liked his food and wine very much. He wore a doctor's coat. "Mr Manoso! Glad to see you finally joined us!"

I glanced at Tank and he gave a small nod to confirm that this was a real doctor. "Dr Stevens."

The doctor came closer and took my chart from the end of my bed, flipping through it. "Very well. You recovered remarkably fast." He put the chart back and started to take vitals. "Though you still need a lot of rest." His gaze slid to Stephanie with obvious disapproval and I had a hunch what he was going to stay next.

I narrowed my eyes in warming. "She stays."

Letting out a deep sigh, he shook his head. "I know, believe me. I already lost that fight with your wife. She even refused to let us at least move a bed in here for her."

That was my girl! I nodded. "We only need one bed." I needed her close after everything that had happened. Remembering Tank's recount about her state of health, I fixed the doctor with my best demanding gaze that usually made normal people give me all the information I wanted. "My wife's condition's fine though, right? No infection?"

It wasn't that I didn't believe Tank. I just wanted to hear it from a doctor.

"She's not my patient, Mr Manoso, but from what I gathered from Dr Braun, there is no need to worry." Not exactly what I wanted to hear, but I made a mental note to talk to this Dr Braun at the first opportunity.

In the meantime, Dr Stevens had turned to Tank. "And you should really not be here anymore. It's way past visitor's time and my patient needs rest."

Tank said nothing, just looked at me. I gave a small nod. He still had to give me his report, but I was beginning to see that it was indeed better to wait until my head wasn't so jumpy anymore. Also it would be nice if I could already rip some heads off when he told me who was responsible for losing my wife and let her be harmed. Until then I was just content to know my Babe was safe and going to be fine.

Besides, he had to get me my ring.

* * *

TBC!

_(Author's Note: And? Anyone having expected that one? evil grin Hope you liked the little twist here. And the explanation for the ring, as so many of you asked about it. I hoped you enjoyed this chapter and I'll try to have another chapter out before I leave for my holidays on Monday. As usual, here my heartfelt thanks to anyone taking the time to review.)_


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"His what?"

I sighed and repeated it patiently, still baffled about my talk with Ranger. "His ring."

Bobby shook his head. "I don't get it. Why would he ask you to get his ring? What ring?"

"Because he misses it," I murmured, quoting the boss. Then I caught myself and gave an unperceivable shrug. "Look, I don't understand it either, but it's pretty obvious that he's under the assumption that he's really married to the bombshell. So now he wants his own wedding ring. Whatever that means. Where did you get the rings from, Les?"

Lester shrugged but there was something in his eyes that looked sheepish. "We needed them fast and the stores were already closed."

Picking up on the tone of his partner, Bobby narrowed his eyes at him. "What did you do?"

Again, Les heaved with his shoulders. "Nothing. I happened to know where there was a set of wedding rings, so I went and got them."

I was loosing my patience. "Where Les?"

Knowing better than to mess with me any further, Les stopped his evasiveness and gave us what we wanted. "The safe in Carlito's apartment here. I knew he kept the rings Abuelo left him there and thought they would do just fine for our little charade."

So this is why he acted as if he knew the ring on Bombshell's finger. And it may explain parts of why he believes in the marriage. If the bossman ever married, it was going to be with those rings. "You don't happen to have the other ring with you as well?" I asked, resigned. No idea why I even bothered with it. Order or not, once we set Ranger straight he would hardly still demand for his ring.

"It's back in Ranger's apartment here. He would have my hide if I lost Abuelo's ring," Lester added with a grimace.

"You better go get it," I ordered. Better safe than sorry. Warily, I ran a hand over my face. I could deal with a lot of shit but this situation was way out of my experience field. Usually, I'd run it with Ranger but of course, that was hardly an option this time. "We just have to figure out why he thinks the marriage is real. I've got to say, I don't know what to do about that – problem."

Problem was an understatement. It would have been bad enough to explain him everything that we had done in order to get Ranger, but to have to tell him that the marriage he believed real and seemed perfectly happy about it actually wasn't? I shuddered to think about how Ranger would take such news.

"You sure he wasn't pulling your leg? Something like that would just be the kind of thing my cousin might do in order to punish us for our recent actions. He's cruel and twisted like that, always was," Lester said, but a frown between his eyes told me he had his doubts about that theory himself.

I thought back about the way Ranger had continuously called Steph his wife, the worry, the protectiveness – the possessiveness. How he had held her close, had stroked over her ring, playing with it almost reverently. The way he had looked when he had asked for his own ring. "I'm sure," I answered without the shadow of a doubt. Then I added what I knew would convince them once and for all. "He asked me if I knew if he had already talked with the General about his retirement from the army. He wants out." I paused for a moment, unsure to reveal the next thing. In the end I figured they needed to know. A man like Ranger changing his priorities like this, his men needed to know. "He needs out."

Bobby and Lester looked at me much like I must have stared at the boss, as if I was the one who had received a few too many blows to the head. I simply nodded. "He said he would have talked."

They blanched, all of them knowing what that meant. Bobby shook his head. "Ranger? No way!"

Lester wasn't so quick to abjure the mere idea of it though. "Because of the Bomber?" he asked thoughtfully.

Again I nodded. Les and Carlos had a complicated relationship. From the beginning, they always had had some rivalry going on between them, both o them being the youngest boy in the family, both getting into trouble at an early age. Then came the army, both of them landing in the same unit, giving them a bond that ran deeper than the blood they shared. Band of brothers. We all shared that. We were friends, we were brothers. But despite all that, they were still blood related on top of that and sometimes, knowing exactly from where Carlos came, Les could understand his cousin better than anyone else. Like now.

Sure. We all had known that Stephanie had gotten under Ranger's skin. That he loved her even. It was obvious, for a while now already, long before he started to issue all those standing policies concerning her. I still never believed his love for the Bombshell would run so deep that it would override even his oath. And judging from the shock on Bobby's face, neither did he.

Les though only nodded with a sigh. "So we're back to the why."

Bobby looked towards the hospital. "I guess it's the torture. The mix of shocks and drugs may have caused some sort of circuit to his memory. Either they made him believe our little charade by repeating it time and time again though I doubt they had time for that – or he talked himself into blacking out the missing memories he should have in order to protect her. Either way, it won't be pretty."

"So what do we do?" I wanted to know.

Lester held up his hands with a dark snort. "Whatever it is, I will not be the one to tell him that it's all fake. No way."

"Me either," Bobby immediately echoed, looking daringly at me.

I ignored the two idiots. It wasn't what I wanted to have to face either, but I guessed I owed him the truth. Besides, I've been in charge ever since he'd been abducted so the responsibility of our actions was on me anyway. Instead, I focused on the problem at hand, addressing Bobby. "I haven't talked with his doctor yet about this – complication. After all, Dr Stevens too thinks Steph's his real wife. Should we tell him? Could him finding out the truth harm him in any way? Or can we just set Ranger straight?"

"I'm just a medic, Tank, not a neurologist. I don't think there's any risk in telling him the truth, apart of the obvious emotional shutdown we can for sure expect from him, but I can't be sure," Bobby replied. "Probably it would be best to talk with a doctor first. But to avoid problems, maybe we could ask Nadia?"

Ranger's doctor sister. Yeah, that was a possibility. Though it wouldn't be easy to explain all this to Nadia either. Not to mention that Ranger would be pissed about us dragging in his family. He had left strict orders not to contact them in cases like this. No exception. Knowing Ranger's family, I understood that order perfectly well and usually followed that order, apart of a few exceptions where it had looked really bad for Ranger. His family in turn had left orders with me to not let him die in a hospital without giving them the chance to say goodbye, in the worst case. Thankfully, there wasn't a risk of that right now. Either way, I was still doomed. If anyone was going to die, it was probably going to be me, by Ranger's own hands.

"Why tell him at all?"

My scrambled thoughts came to screeching stop and I and Bobby gazed at Lester, dumbfounded. "Huh?"

"Why tell him the marriage part isn't true?" Lester repeated, ignoring the stares.

"Now you've lost it for good, hombre," Bobby said sadly, shaking his head.

"No, listen to me for a moment: He obviously wants to believe it, otherwise he wouldn't so easily accept that he has no memories whatsoever of him having marrying the Bomber. So why not let him indulge in that fantasy for a while longer, let him get used to it? Just until he remembers the truth or my idiotic cousin realizes that there's nothing wrong with him allowing himself some love and happiness," Lester explained, dead serious. "We all know he loves her, wants her. That she's a goner for him. That they belong together. But also that until now, it wasn't very likely Ranger would be convinced him hitching it up with her for good could be a could thing. With him believing he already has gotten past those ridiculous reservations, he has no other choice than to accept it and live with it. Actually, I'm almost sure that's why he accepted being married to her so easily, because that's what he really wants deep down. This could be their chance!"

I shook my head. "It would only make it worse for him once he realizes the truth. Maybe even destroying any chance they may have had by him pulling back completely afterwards."

"Not to mention the loss of trust in us. Bad idea, Lester," Bobby agreed with him as well.

"I don't think so. I know _mi primo_. No matter how angry he may get - he'll soon realize that he doesn't want to live without his Babe anymore. That she's his, fake marriage license or not, as much as he is hers," Lester insisted, passionately. "Why else would he want to quit the army after all, something he always had said he would never do? Memory loss or not, that wasn't his illusion talking. He wouldn't entertain even the possibility of that if it hadn't been on his mind for a while already. If it wasn't what he really wanted. What he needs. Him putting her even before his oath has nothing to do with her being his wife or not but only with how much he loves her. Needs her. The only exception is that with thinking her already his wife, he finally allows himself to actually go for it, have the happiness he never thought he deserved." He broke off, looking them all in the eye before spreading his hands, almost helplessly. "And she's finally going to see how he can be when he's fully committed. When he's not constantly pushing her away at the last second, keeping her at distance, telling her bullshit about what he can give her and what not. She will never go back to the cop. I..." He hesitated, licking his lips as he looked up the walls of the hospital. When he continued, his voice amazingly soft. "We shouldn't take away from them this one shot at happiness they may have."

Well damn. I hadn't thought I'd actually ever listen to Santos in the ways of the heart. Still... "It could also backfire. When Ranger's going to learn the truth..."

"Steph's been right with one thing: he already has enough reasons to have our asses. I for my part are willing to risk it if it ends up with those two _idiotas_ seeing the light and hitch it up for good."

Huh.

"You're forgetting one little thing, Les," Bobby spoke up, slapping the back of Lester's shoulder. "Steph will never go along with it."

Shit. He was right with that. Besides the fact that pretty much no one I knew could get away with a lie in front of Ranger, she was a honest girl. She'd never agree to delude him further on, now that he was safely back with us. "Unless..." I stopped, shook my head. What was I thinking? Still, if we really were so harebrained to go with Lester's suggestion, it may just work. But of course we weren't going to do that. It was just crazy.

"What?" Lester urged though, his eyes narrowed and Bobby too looked at me with a frown.

I blame the stress I've been under for the past three weeks and three days. Running on so much adrenalin, having to think of so many various things, calling shots that would drive any normal man insane, it takes a toll. Even on me. The only explanation for what my tested mind came up with and even worse, actually said it out loud to the world. "Unless we tell her that he is still in danger because we only caught the dirty hands and not the puppet man himself and that we think he still got eyes and ears on Ranger. And she has to still play along and be his worried wife until we can lure him out so we can deal with him once and for all."

"Tank, you're brilliant!" Lester exclaimed, slapping my back, his eyes gleaming. "That will do the trick. She'll never want to risk Ranger's life and we can run with that for as long as they need it to irrevocably fall in love with being married to each other."

"It might work. If she doesn't talk with the boss about the situation," Bobby agreed more hesitantly, but his eyes too carried a dangerous gleam to them, all of a sudden. "As soon as Ranger gets wind of it though it will all blow up straight into our face. How are we going to prevent her from mentioning this continued threat by this mysterious big fish to him? You know her. She's bound to mention it sooner or later."

Yep, it definitely had to be all the stress and exhaustion that ruled me that moment, because by God, I had an answer to that problem yet again - and was sharing it without hesitation. "Not if we convince her that for his own good, we want to leave him in the dark about this. We all know that if it were true, Ranger wouldn't still be in that hospital bed. He'd be up and out there, searching for the man with the strings, regardless of what the doctors tell him, not listening to any of us. Especially when he has reason to believe that the bombshell's in danger. You've seen her these past weeks, with the doctor, me and drugging him. We tell her the only way to keep him resting, taking it slow until he's fully recovered, is to let him think it's over, she'll be as silent as a grave. When it's important, she's better at keeping a secret than the Secret Service."

We were all silent for a long moment after I've finished, exchanging looks. Slowly, we each began to grin. May all the gods in this world have mercy with us - we were going to go through with this harebrained at best suggestion of mine.

Oh well. If the boss was feeling mellow and didn't kill us with his own hands, I always wanted to take it up alone with a native cannibalistic tribe of Middle Africa. It promised to be fun.

* * *

When I slowly woke up, it was to pure heaven. Okay, maybe a hospital bed way too small for two people wasn't exactly the seventh cloud and all the bandages I could still feel covering my husbands body was definitely not the way I preferred it - but I woke up to him slowly stroking over my back and hip, his heart beating strong under my face and, as I looked up, his eyes shining black with something I could almost mistake for pure, deep love as he watched me.

So yeah, I was in Heaven. The man I loved was alive and now, finally, also awake, holding me in his arms. Whatever may come, for that moment, I was completely and perfectly happy.

A strange feeling. Not that I've ever been real unhappy, far from it. Mostly content, from time to time a little down over this or that maybe, but overall, I couldn't complain much. Right now though... damn, this felt good. I was probably beaming like a deranged fool but I couldn't care less. "Hey you."

"Babe." So much said with one little word. How I missed it, fearing I might never hear it again...

He must have picked up on my thought as the stroking changed from leisurely to reassuring and he nudged me higher so he could claim my lips. I've kissed Ranger many times already, in many different ways - but none of those kisses had been anything like this one. It's hard to explain but somehow he showed me more of himself with that one kiss than in all the years we've known each other. The real him, the one that so far had always been safely kept guarded by a dozen indestructible iron walls. I've penetrated through some of them, I knew that, but had never gotten through all of them. Until now. I wasn't sure why he let me through finally, what had changed to give me his complete trust like this - but it didn't matter. I responded by giving him all that I had to offer, reciprocating this surprising openness by returning the favor, let him see into the darkest corners of my soul, let him feel the deepest emotions of my heart.

When we parted, I was shaking, snuggling my head into the crook of his neck, bringing up my arms to cling tightly to him. "I was so afraid, Carlos." I was well aware that he already knew that but I felt like I needed to say it out loud. And after this last kiss, I couldn't even think of calling him anything but by his name, now that he finally had shown me the person who Carlos Manoso was.

I wasn't sure if I was ever going to be able to call him Ranger again. I hoped not. I didn't want to go that far back. Never wanted to be reduced to only know the soldier again. As tempting the ex-ranger I've met and come to known more intimately had been - the man behind it was downright addicting. If he wanted me to let go, he'd have to unlock my arms around him and forcefully remove me from his life.

Then again, nothing in that kiss we've just shared indicated he wanted me anywhere than right there with him and now too, his hold on me tightened, as he too was clinging to me with equal desperation. "_Lo siento_. I try to be more careful next time," he murmured into my ear.

"Not your fault," I told him, needing him to know I understood that. Even that most likely, there would be a next time, sometime. And while the mere thought of him being hurt or kidnapped again nauseated me seriously, I could accept it and live with it. I had to. It wasn't going to be easy but if that was the high price to pay in order to be together with him the that was what it was like. Still, there was one thing he could give me to make it easier for me and I didn't hesitate to ask for it. "Just promise to never give up. To hold out as long as you can, no matter what they do to you. So we can find you and bring you home." There weren't much promises he could give me, I knew that, but at least this one he could give me and I needed it for my own sanity.

He pressed a kiss to my temple that had me closing my eyes. "That, _mi corazón_, I can easily promise you. _Eres mi razón para vivir._ How could I ever give up on even the slightest chance to see you again, _hacer el amor contigo_? As long as there is breath in me, I'm going to fight to return to you, _amante mia._"

I may not speak Spanish, but my Italian roots and my shared soul with his enabled me to understand those part as well, enough to get the gist of it at least. His words washed over me, going straight into my heart, filling me with reassurance and elation. Of him, of my love that he reciprocated after all, of his willingness to let us take a shot at happiness together at last. Maybe I should question where all this suddenly came from, how he came to make such an one-eighty on us having a relationship but I was too happy to wonder about it. I just accepted it and bathed in all those new emotions I discovered in this all new world he had just opened for me.

"Babe, look at me," he ordered gently. Usually he would probably just used his other hand to raise my head but casted as it was, he was forced to use words for once. It made me smile, despite my horror at all the broken bones the Chinese gave him. I obliged.

His eyes were focused on me, with a mixture of serenity, love but also clearly reprimand. "You on the other hand need to promise me that should something like this happen again, you need to take better care of yourself. Not sleeping or eating is not the way to handle a crisis, Stephanie."

He didn't need to use my name to emphasize how serious he meant this. And I got it. Nor was I exactly proud over my inability to keep it together these past three weeks. Still... "As if you'd been any better than me in the reversed situation." I've heard a lot of how he was when I was the one abducted. It was nothing pretty either apparently.

"I know to keep my body fueled enough in order to function - and amass my strengths for when I need it," he contradicted my attempted turnabout.

I wasn't ready to give up so fast. "That's not what I've heard."

He frowned, probably trying to guess what I've might heard from whom. Eventually, he shook his head. "You were - _afortunadamente gracias a Dios_ - never gone for more than a few hours so far. I'd like to keep it that way but should it ever come otherwise, whoever your source or informants are, they'll tell you afterwards that I was merciless and unyielding in my search for you - but I'll have eaten and slept enough to sustain me."

Recognizing when I was defeated, I sighed. "It was no conscious decision, Carlos. I wasn't hungry so I just forgot about it. And I did try to sleep but trust me, sleep didn't do me any good. If anything, it only made things worse."

His frown deepened and he muttered something on Spanish under his breath that I didn't get at all. Then his focus returned to me, grim and determined. "There are some techniques we can teach you to deal with shock and fear and that help you remember your body's needs. We'll get on that as soon as we are home. And I need you to learn proper self defense techniques and refresh your weapon training. I know this is not your thing, but now that we are together, _casado_, you're more of a target than ever before. As this latest episode proved only too starkly." I was shocked to see him stop to gulp. Damn. Sure, I knew he worried about me but usually he didn't let it show. Not like this. And obviously, the Chinese using me to make him give up the information they sought had shaken him more than I had thought it would. I was still trying to process that when he had found his voice again. "Please, Stephanie. Always remember that your safety is my sanity."

It was my turn to gulp. There was the magic word, coupled with my name once again. No chance I could refuse him anything when he got out big guns like this. So I solemnly nodded my approval of his conditions, not trusting my voice. And I was nervous because now more than ever I was convinced he'd go ballistic once he'd learn of my plan, that we actually wanted them to kidnap me in order for them to lead us to him. I doubted Tank had briefed him yet, otherwise he would have mentioned it already. Said he'd have torn each of us a new one at best - or cut us out and ban us from his life at worst.

When he had been missing, I hadn't cared about the consequences, only his survival relevant to me. I had thought I could take whatever punishment he deemed fit for my bold plan. Now though I wasn't so sure anymore. After the bliss I had just found with him these past moments I didn't think I could bear if he cut me out now.

Still, faced with the same decisions to make all over again, I probably wouldn't change one thing of what I did. In a future situation maybe, but with the information I had had up until now? As wonderful as it was to be with him, really be with him, all of him - that he was alive in the first place was still the most important thing.

Boy of boy, we were definitely heading straight towards our first big fight.

Sure enough, there his eyes already narrowed. "How did they get to you?" he demanded to know.

I could pretend I didn't know what he meant but I supposed it wouldn't exactly help my case. Instead, I sighed. "How much do you already know?" It was my plan and I've told Tank I'd be the one to justify my decision. He seemed relieved to hear that, reminded me though that as his SIC, it was his call in the end so he wasn't interested in denying any responsibility. So we had decided to do it together, in the hopes that my big blue-eyed pleading (and I'd like to clarify here that those had been Tank's words and surely not mine!) and his sense of stoic rationalism would be able to convince Carlos not to send us to the desert over the way we chose to get to him. I was realistic though. Tank for sure had already been asked for a report by Carlos. He had weird priorities like this.

"Not much. Tank suggested to wait for you to wake up," he answered, giving me a suspicious look that I didn't like at all. "What did the two of you do?"

Suddenly, my lips were awfully try. "Uh, perhaps we should wait for him to join us?" My reply was bound to rise his hackles even more, I knew, but I really didn't want to face him on this alone. Call me chicken if you like but have you seen him angry?

It's a sight bound to even bring the devil down to his knees, quivering in fear. I loved the man, but he was scary.

"Talk," he ordered me in a clipped voice, his eyes two deep black slits. Nope, he definitely hadn't liked my answer.

Nervous, I liked my lips. "Now, no need to get agitated. You need to relax, remember? We only did what was necessary in order to get you back alive."

"Stephanie," he warned, having none of that, his use of my name anything else than an endearment this time.

I think my panties dampened just a tiny little bit. An extreme sign of self-control on my part, really. "Please, Carlos, just..."

The tunes of _The Stepford Wifes_ interrupted me. My mother. Hallelujah! "Sorry, gotta take this," I smiled my apology at him and was off the bed and over by the chair where my purse sat in record time. "Yes, Mom?" I answered cheerfully, probably never more grateful for a phone call from her than in that moment.

"Stephanie Michelle Plum, what did I ever do to you to deserve this?" she asked in a muffled voice that I needed a moment for recognizing as stifled crying.

My elation vaporized instantly. "Mom?"

"It is one thing to be so stubborn to insist on doing that horrible job and always roll your eyes at what I have to say to you instead of just once listening to me but I still would never have expected you to have so little regards to my feelings, young lady," she continued, her voice gaining steel.

Clearly, she was pissed. Unfortunately, I had no clue what she was talking about. "I do listen to you Mom, maybe not always agreeing, but I hear you always. But what are you talking about?"

"Don't pretend not to know! What daughter let her family know over the news that she's married for a month already without even once mentioning it with one single word? Really, Stephanie, no matter what we may think about that Ranger guy, you at least should have had the decency to inform us of your engagement or at least inform us of your marriage right after the ceremony. But to sit every other day at our dinner table, not saying a word and leave us in the dark that you went and got married is cruel even for you. Shame on you!" she ranted, her tears clearly replaced by anger now.

I felt my blood rush out of my cheeks as my heart literally stopped. Oh _shit_.

"And if that isn't enough of an incredible affront, we have to learn at the same time that not only are you married to that Cuban thug, no, apparently he's been kidnapped as well," Mom continued her rant, agitated. "Other sons-in-law don't get kidnapped! Other daughters aren't all over the news, begging for his safe return when not even her own family knows either of her marriage nor in what distress their child is! Really, Stephanie, you broke my heart!"

"The news?" I shrieked in a voice I hardly recognized as my own. The _news_? Like in CNN and such?

"Just turn on the TV, it's hard to miss," Mom told me heatedly. "Have you any idea how many calls we've gotten already? What am I supposed to tell them? I can hardly admit that I had no idea of any of this myself! What will people think?"

Frantically, I looked around for the remote to the television in Carlos' room. There. 'Please, please, please...' I prayed silently, switching it on. Commercial. Shopping. Talk show. Casting show. Murder she wrote. There! Finally some news. Mom was still talking but I couldn't understand a word anymore, my heart beating too loud. It couldn't be. Tank and the Merry Men were supposed to stop it from hitting national news.

My heart sank when sure enough, after a while, I saw my married name flicker over the screen, followed by the recording of the press conference I gave four days ago.

Fuck.

"Tank!" I bellowed, sure he was either close or the Rangeman outside Carlos' door recognized the need to call him immediately. Then I closed my eyes and put the phone back up to my ear. "Mom? Mom, listen, I'm sorry, okay? I never meant for you or anyone else at home to see this. Apparently, there was a misunderstanding. Ranger is safe now and as soon as we're back, I'm going to explain everything to you, I promise. But right now I gotta go. Love you," I rattled off and hung up, turning off the cell phone altogether. It would get me into deep shit with her, then again I doubted that right now I could do anything that could still worsen this fuck-uped situation. If Carlos wasn't going to kill me, she sure would. Or worse, deny me pot-roast and pineapple upside down cake for the rest of my life.

The door pushed open and Tank walked in, his hands already up in the air and actually looking nervous for once in his life. Damn well he should. "Sorry, Bombshell. I told one of the men in the office here to take care of it but apparently, he either wasn't fast enough or they picked up the story anyway. I've already made a few calls for damage control."

Damage control, my ass! It was a little late for that. Whole Trenton had already seen it. Explaining this mess wouldn't just be incredibly embarrassing, it was going to be a living nightmare. It was going to cost me a lot of time, effort and doughnuts to soothe my family and friends over their hurt feelings. And just because some idiot guy didn't know how to properly do his job! I was about to give Tank a piece of my mind when the curt voice of Carlos cut through our agitation and froze both of us with one, short word.

"Explain."

* * *

TBC!

_(Author's note: I so don't want to be in theirs shoes right now! Thank for all the truly wonderful reviews - and for keep giving them. Always a good reminder that it's about time to write a new chapter for this one. Hope you enjoyed this one!)_


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

_Shit, shit, goddamn fucking SHIT!_

Of all the ways for Ranger to learn about our plan to rescue him, this had to be the possible worst one. I tried to come up with something to say, anything, but his furious, piercing eyes had turned my mind into a frozen mess. More than anything I wanted to look away but I couldn't. This may be my best friend, my brother, but every instinct I had told me to not risk making one wrong move.

"Don't be mad with Tank. Or any of the other Rangemen. It's been my plan alone," the Bombshell stuttered, her voice cracking slightly. I was touched by her brave attempt to save me and I had no doubts whatsoever that Ranger was going to have a lot to say to her as well. First though, he was going to deal with me. And he had every right to. I had gone against all protocols and orders Ranger ever issued to me. I was the SIC, I've been in charge.

Sure enough, his unwavering gaze stayed solely on me. "What plan?" His voice was short, quiet. Too quiet. A cold shiver ran down my spine. I've heard that voice before. It never had been directed at me so far and boy, did I wish it had stayed that way.

"We knew who had you, but we didn't know where. All leads ended up in a dead end. And we were running out of time," Bombshell tried to explain one more time, taking a step towards the bed, bringing herself into my line of view. She was pale, looking as if she was approaching a growling tiger. Truth was, a tiger would have been the safer choice between him and a truly pissed Ranger. Then again, Ranger loved her so she was probably the only person who may get away alive and mostly unscathed after all. "It had already been three weeks. For sure they had already figured out you weren't going to talk, no matter what. Soon, they would have grown tired of torturing you and simply killed you. That's what everyone was telling me - or avoiding to tell me. We had to do something."

At last his unyielding lock of a gaze on me broke as his eyes flickered to Steph after all. If I had been a lesser man, I would have allowed my knees to buckle in relief. As it was, I straightened instead. Now was definitely not the time to show any weakness. I watched the tiniest of a frown appear between his eyes and new that soon, the lid was going to fly off this boiling pot. Time to step in and get the Bombshell out of the line of fire. I deserved the brunt of the storm that was going to come . I stepped forward. Miraculously, my voice worked at the first try, actually sounding amazingly calm and neutral. "So we flushed them out."

The two black holes shot back to me and despite all bravery, I shuddered. Well, on the inside at least. "Stephanie, please leave us alone," he ordered, even shorter and more quiet than before. Not good.

Any other being, human or not, would have scrambled to follow his order. Of course though, not so the Bombshell. "But it hasn't been Tank's fault," she protested, almost desperate. "I came up with the plan, it's been my decision to go with it and I really didn't leave them any choice. I was going to go through with it, with or without their help. If you want to bite someone's head off, it has to be mine."

His only reaction was a brief, heated glance her way. It did the deed though. She shut up immediately, unhappily looking between me and the boss. I had to give her credit that she still wasn't out of the room, only hanging back for me I guessed. She was good back-up, that girl. Nonetheless, this was between Ranger and me. Ever so slowly, never breaking eye-contact with my CO, I nodded at her.

She looked even more disgruntled, but she backed away. "Just don't kill him," she muttered, throwing us both dark looks before she eased out of the room.

Ranger waited until he was sure she was out of earshot before he spoke, repeating his initial demand. "Explain."

I was almost touched, figuring the only reason he gave me a chance to explain at all was our long friendship. Well, that and that he was currently confined to a hospital bed with several broken bones. "We did what we had to do in order to complete the mission."

"By using my wife as bait." It wasn't a question, not even an incredulous outcry. Just a flat statement that gave me the sudden urge not to wet my pants. Jeez. I hadn't been in that predicament since I've been a toddler.

It was a small solace to have it confirmed that he still believed his marriage real, though to be honest, right then I seriously considered the wisdom of not coming completely clean. This was the chance to set him straight. Ignoring the small voice, I concentrated on the more pressing matter right now. "Yes. We needed to present them a last mean to make you talk. None other than the Bombshell, your beautiful new wife, had a chance to accomplish that." I stopped, eyeing him, gauging his reaction. His face remained stoic as he waited for me to continue. I did. "We didn't go with that plan lightly, Ranger. Before we even considered Steph's plan we left no stone unturned, exhausting all leads and informants we had. But we had nothing. Her plan was our best shot. Besides, what she said is true: there was no stopping her. She was going to do this anyway and we figured with our help, we could at least keep her safe."

His eyes flamed up and I knew immediately that that was the wrong thing to say. Damn.

"Safe? Where is there any safety in letting her go public with our relationship so now every enemy I have who happens to watch the news knows where to hit me to hurt me the most? In letting her be kidnapped by the Chinese mob? How was she ever save while they dragged her in front of me, mauling her, hurting her? They almost raped her! They almost killed her! Not to mention that by allowing her being taken you risked the very safety of the country we have sworn to serve and protect, going directly against your oath and ever fucking order I or your country ever gave you," he bellowed, pushing himself up in the bed, leaning forward. Weren't he bound to the hospital bed I was sure we'd be having this conversation on the mat, each word punctuated with a well placed punch or kick. Frankly, I'd prefer that. "Don't involve civilians, don't negotiate, don't talk, don't give them what they want," he recited our sergeant from boot camp, spitting out every rule with venom. "And you sure as hell don't deliberately endanger my wife, using her as bait. Steph's safety is top priority, always, without exception. She doesn't cooperate, you have your orders for that as well. _Mierda, cabrón_, what were you thinking?"

That he was falling back on Spanish was even worse. He only did that when he was really and truly mad beyond any limits. I gulped. "Carlos..."

"_No! Pienso que oíste bastante!_ I always trusted you, _siempre_. _Pero ahora_ - you using Stephanie, risking her very life..." He shook his head. "I don't know what to do about it yet. Any other person can be happy if the worst I'm going to do is fire his ass. You're my partner though, so it's not that easy. Until I'm back on my feet, I still need you." He stopped, inhaling deeply. When he spoke again, it was in a voice I hadn't heard since our last mission in the Rangers. "See to it that I can be relocated as fast as possible. With that publicity nightmare, Steph and I are sitting ducks in here. Tighten security on all RangeMan companies. Until further notice, bodyguard detail on my wife is doubled. I want you and anyone else who went along with this - plan - off of her detail. The standing orders concerning her obviously need to be updated with the instruction to not, under any circumstances, use her as bait. I expect a daily status report at 1000. Other than that, unless in case of an emergency, I don't want to see you again, Captain."

At the use of my old rang I felt myself paling. Upon leaving active duty, we silently agreed to drop any rang. With our background, you never stop being a soldier, especially not in the line of business we wanted to pursue. Still, you didn't need the reminder of those times every day. And we had grown to be way more than simple commander and his captain. Taking me and the boys off Steph's detail was another proof for how ruined his trust into us was. Only the best and absolutely trustworthy Rangemen were allowed on Bombshell duty. To be taken off was like losing all security levels, only one breath away from being fired. Actually, it was unprecedented so far. Some guys had been banned for some time, but never been taken off completely. And finally that he refused to see me other than for what was necessary... We had had our disagreements and fights but it never had come to this.

With a cold rush that had my insides clenching, I realized that with my decisions in this matter I may have just ruined the best relationship I ever had had with any other human being. I had expected harsh punishment - but not this. Never this. I opened my mouth but no tone came out.

"Dismissed."

I didn't move, wanting to mend this. Again I opened my mouth, desperate to try to explain my actions once more. He cut me off with one look that had me flinching as if I'd met his mean right hook. For a moment longer I lingered, then nodded, defeated. "Yes, Sir."

I turned to leave. Reaching the door, he spoke again. To my deepest disappointment not to attempt to save our friendship though. "Send Stephanie back in to me." I nodded. "My ring?" he demanded to know on a last note.

Briefly, I glanced back at him. "Santos is fetching it as we speak."

"Good. Though if we can leave within the next few hours, he can save the trip back and instead get everything ready at the apartment."

His eyes turned away, another clear dismissal now that he had said all he was going to say.

"Aye." My heart breaking just a little, I left.

* * *

To say I was nervous while I waited outside Carlos' room was an understatement. I felt bed for Tank, who really was not to blame for anything in all this mess and I was anxious to explain myself to Carlos. And yes, I was also deeply scared that the blissful happiness I found in the last hour in his arms was already on the brick of losing it again.

No. What he'd shown me, how he'd opened up to me like that, I knew now that he loved me. Wanted me. Needed me. If he wanted to be a jerk about this, fine. I wasn't going to let him push me away, not anymore. Now that he had taken me, he wasn't going to get rid of me so easily again.

"Tank still in there?"

Jumping about a feet into the air, I turned to glare at Bobby. "Jeez! Try to kill me? When do you guys finally learn to give me a little warning before sneaking up on me and scare the bejeezus out of me like that?"

"Sorry, Bomber, not going to happen," he answered with a shrug. "It's our job to be silent. Plus, it's way too funny to see you jump like this."

I flipped him a bird and he chuckled. His eyes slid over to the still closed door to Carlos' room, a man in black I didn't know staying stoically in front of it, looking all like a statue if not for the eyes that mercilessly scanned each person walking by, flickering from doors to windows constantly. "Tell me the truth: in your ads for a job with RangeMan, paranoia is the top requirement for character treats, right?"

Apparently funny hour was over as all traces of humor had left Bobby's face as he glanced back at me. My heart started to beat faster on the spot. "What? What is it?"

"We interrogated the men we captured. Turns out, Wang wasn't the one calling the shots after all. Apparently he received his orders from someone else," Bobby said, grim. "Unfortunately, they were only the thugs, never meeting the boss, so not knowing any names."

Dread washed over me. "Meaning what?" I had a hunch what it meant but I had to ask anyway, needing to hear it.

"Whoever ordered Ranger being taken is still out there. He may try it again," Bobby confirmed my worst fear. Damn. "Actually, we think he will definitely try it again and we expect him to come after both of you. After all, he most likely ordered your abduction as well. And even if he hadn't known about you so far, with that news report that just aired he for sure knows now."

No. No, no, no. We just got him back! I couldn't lose him again! I couldn't go through another living hell like these past weeks had been one! The blood rushed in my ears as it left my face pale. I may have swayed also a bit on my feet, because next thing I knew, Bobby grabbed my arms to steady me, his eyes wide and shocked as he stared at me.

"Shit, Bomber, take it easy. It's good we know about it. This way, we can prepare. We have you and Ranger heavily guarded. He won't get to you guys again," he tried to sooth me, sitting me down on the next opportunity available which was an empty stretcher. "Though, it would actually be good if he tried it again. It will make him easier to catch and deal with him for good."

I was shaking my head. "No. Carlos' is not up for risk being bait. And I'm not available either this time." Not to mention he'd go completely ballistic over it. Shit. "Does he know?"

"No," Bobby answered and I wondered about the reluctance in his voice. Not for long though. "And we want to keep it that way. Tank will only tell him now that until we're sure it's all over we should keep up the pretenses we've set up for this operation. It's standard procedure. We do not tell him though that we know the one responsible for this is still on the loose."

"Are you nuts? He's going to firing all our asses for such a thing. If we're lucky." It had been one thing to set all this up in order to get him back. I mean, he hadn't been around to make any decision. Sure, I knew I was going against his wishes, forcing his men into insubordination. But this was different, this was outright lying to him. Even if that were humanly possible, which wasn't - I couldn't do that. Not anymore. "I'm not participating in any of this."

Bobby took my hands, forced me to look him in the eyes. "Steph, we don't do something like this lightly either. He isn't just our boss, he's our friend. Our brother," he told me, gravely. "The only reason we're doing this is for his own good. We've seen it before and I'm sure you too will understand: the moment Ranger learns there is still at least one guy out there, the one ordering his and your abduction even, he's going to get out of that bad and go out on the streets, turning over every stone until he had the guy, injuries be damned. No one would be able to stop him. He's not up for that. You've heard the doctor and I've just spoken to him again and he confirmed that Ranger absolutely needs to rest or the injuries may still kill him after all."

Good thing I was already sitting, otherwise I'm pretty sure Bobby would have had to catch me in true romance book style. Generally, I'm not so quick to sway or faint, but with Carlos it was just different.

"So we don't tell him in the first place, in his own best interest. Not until he's healed enough to be ready to be up for a fight again," Bobby finished, eying me.

"He said he's never asking too much of his body than it can support," I argued, desperate. Lying to him just didn't sit right with me and I wanted to avoid it at any costs. But I couldn't deny Bobby having a good argument there. And by God, again, if it was a choice between keeping him safe or lying to him, the need to protect him was stronger. Probably always would be.

Bobby had raised an eyebrow, regarding me for a moment. "Usually he knows his limits. But not when he's hurt. We've had this situation before, several times and each time he landed back in the hospital as soon as he had gotten his man. So we started to work around it." Shit. Why had he to sound so sincere and solemn and honestly worried? It would be easier to resist the lure of his words if he'd bellowed out orders like Rangemen were supposed to. Guess that was why he was the medic. "Plus, this time your safety is also at stake. There's no holding him back, Stephanie - unless we keep him in the dark, either until we've got the guy or until he's recuperated enough for at least light duty."

Meaning they needed me to cooperate with their plan. I crossed my arms in front of me. "I don't like this."

He said nothing. Maybe he was more intuitive than most other Rangemen, probably due to him being the medic, he still had the silent thing going on for him down to a notch though. A few moments and I was already starting to feel guilty to be so difficult about this. After all, they only wanted to keep him save, much like I've only wanted him back and safe when I asked them to ignore their direct orders and go with my plan. I guessed I owed them the same courtesy now. And, obviously, they've been doing a good job at having his back or I probably would never have had the opportunity to meet Carlos in the first place. So I should probably trust their instincts and experience. Still... "I really don't like that idea, Bobby."

I was surprised when he smiled warmly, kissing the top of my head. The guys in black seldom showed emotion. This little gesture was the equivalent for him going up onto the roof and scream his gratitude to the world. With a plane writing a big _'Thank you, Bomber_!' into the sky. Jeez.

"One more thing: we assume whoever this is has really good Intel, good enough to have ears and eyes on Ranger, somehow. It's best to let him believe the story we went with. So don't let it show that your marriage isn't altogether real, not even if you think you're alone. We can't be sure," Bobby added, making me blink. "This guy knew exactly when and where to abduct Ranger and believe me, that's not an easy task."

Baffled out of my mind, I ignored that last bit. "You want me to... How am I supposed to do that? You should have seen Carlos just now, how mad he had been. No way will he ever play along. And frankly said, I don't see why we should either!" I didn't know yet what he was madder about: the fake marriage or using me as bait and I wasn't looking forward to find out. My instinct told me the bait part was worse to him, but nonetheless, he hadn't looked as if he had appreciated seeing my name coupled with his flashing over the TV screen much.

Bobby had the decency to frown over at the door, looking unsure. When he turned back to me though, he once again shrugged at me nonchalantly. "Tank's taking care of that. Like said, it's standard procedure to uphold a set-up until we're sure we don't need it anymore so he won't have any objections against it. Especially once he has cooled down and realizes all the advantages a fake marriage bring to him. Trust me, he'll love to play the doting husband, ever hot and hungry for you," he suggested with a leer at me.

At the thought of Carlos playing along like this, my heart warmed and my panties got ruined. In a good way. I liked the thought. Very much. Too much. My half fake marriage already felt so real and right to me - I wasn't sure how I could bear taking this farce a notch up to only have to return to my lonely single life. How I could prevent my heart from breaking when this was all over and Carlos filed for an annulment.

"Stephanie?"

Bobby's concerned probing reminded me that I still owed him an answer. And that I really didn't have a choice here. If Carlos wanted it to have this way, after that plan of mine, it was best to simply go along with anything he wanted for a while. I sighed heavily. "I really, really don't like any of this."

I have no idea what Bobby was intending to say next as at that moment, the door to Carlos' room opened and Tank came out, moving like a robot and paler than a ghost. Uh-oh. This didn't look good. Bobby and I were over by him in a flash.

"Tank? You all right man?" Bobby asked, gripping the big man's arm.

He slowly looked at him and they locked their eyes to hold one of their ESP conversations. Still lacking that mental power, I nervously looked back to Carlos' door. I've been reluctant to leave and eager to get back in, explain myself, set a few things straight. Now I wasn't so sure anymore if it wasn't best to first make a trip to a third world country. I've heard Afghanistan isn't so bad after all. And North Korea isn't so terrible as people want you to think either.

"He wants to speak to you now."

I looked back at Tank who still looked as if he had just met the devil himself - and lost. Jeez, what had Carlos done to him?

"I wouldn't let him wait, Bomber. Not when he's like this," Bobby offered and I could tell he wasn't kidding.

I mustered up a brave, although quivering smile. "If I don't make it out: it's been fun with you guys," I told them, meaning every word. Then I raised my head and bit the bullet, pushing open the door.

* * *

_Increíble! Que idiotas! _

How could Tank, my second, my best friend, my brother, ever be so stupid to even consider a completely harebrained plan like this, let alone go along with it?

I wasn't surprised my Babe came up with it in the first place. Doing something so unbelievable stupid and as regardless to her own safety was just like something she would do. Does, actually, time and time again, putting her life and well-being on the line for the sake of others. I didn't like it, hated it even - but I loved her for it. So I wasn't really mad with her.

Tank though was a completely different matter. Just because of Steph's habit to put everyone's safety ahead of hers it was important to watch over her. Make sure she didn't pay a price for her compassionate and good nature that was unacceptable. See to it that she stayed safe, in spite of her really remarkable talent to get into trouble even when not on the job or only helping out a friend. Tank knew that. All my men knew that. I've been very explicit on what I expected from my men in regard to the Bombshell duty, as my men called it. That he of all people disregarded my orders like this, daring to use my Babe, my wife, as bait...

I couldn't wrap my head around that. Tank and I went so far back, him being the one I trusted most, with my back, my business, my thoughts, my family and since Steph came into my life, with her life.

It simply did not make any sense. And I honestly didn't know how to deal with it. Anyone else, I'd cut lose. It wasn't so easy with Tank though. Not just because he was my business partner - my parents had more or less adopted him since I brought him home the first time when we barely had been teenagers. Our bond of brotherhood ran much deeper than having served together, going to hell side by side and coming back.

But how could I ever trust him again after what he had done? After betraying me like this, disregarding everything that was important to me?

The door opened and Stephanie slipped back in, her head held high. It almost made me smile. Her bravery had impressed me since day one, when she had stubbornly insisted on going after Joe Morelli. Back then, it had taken me a while to take her seriously. Today, I knew better. And right now, my Babe was no happy woman.

Well, neither was I a particularly happy man right now.

"Jeez, what did you do to Tank? The poor guy looks as if he had met with judgment day and lost." She came closer, mustering up a pretty good glare despite the nervousness that was plain to see in her as well. "I told you: it's been my plan. This is all on me. Not Tank. You absolutely want to take it out on someone, do it on the right person. Me."

Yeah, she had balls, my Babe. Very few people dare to speak to me like this. Of course, only few would get away with it as well. As the woman I loved, she had some liberties others didn't have. Still, there were also some boundaries and it was time to remind her of that. "Tank has his orders, like all my men have. Especially regarding your safety. Risking you by using you as bait, regardless whose idea it was, is unacceptable - and going against any order I ever issued," I explained shortly before focusing on her. "As for you, a plan like this is completely intolerable. And I need you to promise me you will never again do something such dangerous and foolish, putting your own life at risk like this."

Oh, she didn't like this, not one bit. Too bad. I was not going to give in on this.

Reaching my bedside, she stopped, meeting my eyes no less determined than I was. "I will make no such promise, Carlos. Losing you is not an option in my book. If I can help saving you in any way, I'll do it. Always. No matter what risks are involved."

I clenched my jaw. "That's not..."

She didn't let me finish my sentence. "Also, not that long ago, you walked into a room, knowing full well you most likely won't walk out again. For me. You got shot and almost died. For me. And it hadn't been the first time you were ready to sacrifice so much for me. Why should it be acceptable that you risk and maybe even sacrifice your own life for me but I'm not allowed to do the same for you?"

"That's hardly the same," I pointed out the obvious. Though I felt like I was losing ground here. _Joder._

Her eyebrows shot up. "Oh yeah? How? 'cause I fail to see this oh so big difference."

"For one, I am trained for situations like these - you are not," I told her, ready to continue.

She was faster than me though. "Oh yeah? You've been trained for exactly the situation where someone close to you is targeted? There is some rule somewhere that tells you to put your life on the line for me - while I am not allowed to do the same? This isn't war, Carlos. We're not in some military operation and not even on a job as bounty hunters. Yes, you are some kick-ass black-op soldier, you know the streets, the game. You have more experience than me. So have all your men. Fine. Okay. I accept that and I am open to suggestions or even to follow some reasonable orders while on the job. But when the man I love is kidnapped, missing for weeks, everything is different. You would never give up your search for me - you would never not do anything necessary in order to get me back because it may hold some risks to your safety. Well, I have news for you: neither will I and you need to get used to that. You get hurt, nothing will tear me away from your bedside until you're better again. You go missing, I will not rest until we have you back. You're caught, needing our help, no one will stop me from doing everything in my power to help you, no matter the risks." She had come closer until her face leaned directly into mine, her blue eyes burning hotter than the flame of a burner. _Dios mio_, I was pissed with every word she said, but another part of me was turned on as hell. Damn that woman and what she could do to me. "You got a problem with that, deal with it. But take it on with me - not some poor souls who stand no chance to stop me from whatever I need to do for the sake of your well-being."

Grabbing her arm, I yanked her closer. "You do not understand, Stephanie. You can not be harmed. You shall not be used against me. You can not be killed. It's a matter of national security, not just some power game between you and me. And..."

"National security?" she interrupted me incredulously, rolling her eyes. "Come on, Carlos, don't be so over dramatic. I hardly figure..."

"Due to my job and my position, I am private to some very sensitive information regarding national security. And you're right. While I've been trained to withhold torture and interrogations, I was not trained to keep my secrets while the enemy uses you to get them from me. I told you my life doesn't lend itself to relationships. Because in my line of duty, love, family, it only represents a weakness, a liability to my oath." I needed her to finally understand this, hoping I found the right words to make her see why she couldn't take the same risks for me as I was prepared to take for her. "But I fell in love with you anyway and I even married you, risking making you an open target for everyone who has an issue with me because in the end, the prospect of a life without you in it became more unbearable than the vague possibility of you suffering for being with me. And because you became the most important person or thing in my life, I am ready to retire from the army, minimizing the risks for you and my country. But I still have many enemies and I still hold critical information that dare not end up in the wrong hands, for all our safety, and because of this, you need to understand that you can't do something like you did here. Damn it, have you any idea how close I've been to tell them anything they wanted to know, just so they wouldn't hurt you further - or do worse to you? You need to get used to the fact that your safety isn't just my sanity and my life, because be assured, Babe, that I am no longer willing to live in a world without you in it - but that it is no less than the security of your country. The very country your father, your husband and many of your friends swore to protect, served for, risked their lives for." Gripping her arm hardly, I gazed into her eyes, wide with disbelief, searching for comprehension of just how important her life was. "Do you finally understand, _querida_?"

She didn't answer immediately. In fact, at first she simply continued to stare at me with deep confusion and incredulity. Finally though, she opened her mouth, ready to answer.

Unfortunately, at that moment, the door to my room flew open, filling with a small, slender figure with her delicate hands on her hip, her dark brown eyes glowing with rage. "_Ricardo Carlos Manoso, tienes mucho enfado. Porque necesito a entender noticias de ti por la televisión? Que eres herido de gravedad? O que tu eres casado?"_

I cringed, actually sliding down in my bed and trying to take cover behind my babe, figuring she was going to be much safer than I was. "_Mama_."

* * *

TBC!

_(Author's Note: Yeah, a mother can put the fear into even as a fearless guy as Ranger. And boy, he's in trouble. Pretty much everyone is in trouble. Let's hope at least some of them soon get out of the doghouse. I hope the language is okay. Just remember, I'm flying solo here and English is not my native language, nor is Spanish. Thank you guys for all the wonderful, encouraging reviews! I'll try to get the next chapter out soon.) _


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Mama. _Mama!_ Oh shit!

This was so not how I imagined meeting Carlos' mother. Okay, I actually never really expected to meet Mama Batman, still, if it had ever come to that, I'd have preferred another way for that meeting. Certainly not her barging in on us in the middle of a fight, me hovering dangerously close over her son. Though not really in any awkward position or doing something nasty, I deeply blushed and hurried to put some distance between me and Carlos, straightening my more or less still straight clothes. Jee-eez. When I tried to step away from the bed though I found myself unable to do so due to the tight grip Carlos still had on my arm. About to spare him a glare, I did a double take. Was I seeing things here or was there actually something like apprehension in his eyes?

_"Ricardo, respuestas por favor. Ahora."_

Uh-oh, and I always thought Carlos had learned that certain no-discussion-allowed-tone in the army, but seeing the way this petite latina woman looked at Carlos and the tone she used, it looked as if I had to correct that impression. I didn't know what she had said, but it was easy enough to recognize the demand in it.

Out of the corner of my eyes I caught Carlos cringing. Hot damn! I hadn't imagined it! Batman was afraid of his mom! Hehe. So he was human after all. If I ever had doubts, here was the proof. And not only was she his mother, oh no, she was a really tiny woman, slender, with a figure any woman would kill for to have with fifty something. Not that she looked a day older than thirty-five. And big bad-ass ex-Ranger Carlos Manoso was afraid of that petite woman. Oh yeah, that was good.

"_Mama_," he repeated, whining, stopping again, either at a loss of words or refusing to say anything else.

And he could whine!

Oh, this so was making my day! About time. So far it sure hadn't been much fun. The worry, the tension, the mess with the press release, the stress with my mom, the shit with that damn puppet master still aloof and now the fight with Carlos - oh yeah, I definitely deserved some amusement right now.

I could have watched this for a while longer and I would have if I hadn't thought it was time to introduce myself properly as Carlos apparently wasn't up to that. So I took a step forward, producing a smile my mother would be proud of. "Mrs Manoso? I am so happy to finally meet you." I really was. All the stories this woman could tell! I was dying to hear more about little Ranger. Somewhere in all that tight control had to be something that could be used as a weapon or comeback for future embarrassing moments for me that were bound to come.

Her eyes turned on me and instantly, my smile wavered. So that scrutinizing stare Carlos mastered so well didn't come from the army either. The family resemblance overall wasn't that big, apart of the same mocha skin texture, but he definitely had gotten his eyes from his mother. Same color, same intensity that made you sweat if exposed to it longer than three seconds. By the time she spoke I was sweating like a pig already.

Her single question though was like a bucket of ice, delivered in a soft, smooth and completely accent free velvet but no-nonsense voice. "Are you pregnant?"

Huh?

Behind me, Carlos straightened, squeezing my hand. "_Mama, no. Stephanie es el amor de mi vida. Es la única razón por la cual somos casado._"

I caught enough to know that Carlos had just assured her that I wasn't pregnant, still, the stupefaction her question had propelled me into was passing and I was feeling the need to give my own two pieces. "Jesus, no, I'm not pregnant. Why do people always automatically assume one is pregnant? Why would you think it in the first place?"

One perfectly shaped eyebrow rose. "Usually, the only reason for a connection like this, hurried and secretive, is a pregnancy. What other reason should my son have to suddenly marry, after years of strict celibacy and a clear statement to remain so for the rest of his life, no matter how foolish that is? Without saying one word to his family or even bother to introduce his new wife to his parents and siblings at least?"

It didn't go by me that we had just been presented with yet another big complication, namely his family, like mine, believing us being truly married, still, for the moment I couldn't care less. "Even if I were pregnant, this is the twenty-first century, for Heaven's sake. A positive pregnancy test doesn't mean you've got to run in front of the altar next."

Her eyes hardened. "I raised my son to do the right thing."

'Yeah, and it turned out so well the last time,' I thought. In front of me, Mrs Manoso sucked in the air, her eyes widening while behind me I heard a very fake cough.

Crap. Me and my unstoppable mouth!

Another fake cough from behind while Carlos' mother's mouth corners started to actually twitch. No idea if in a good or bad way. Then again, was there any good way still possible at all?

She looked past me at Carlos and the twitch turned into a smile. "_Ella es fuego. Está bien por ti. Pienso que la aprecio._" Turning to me, her smile widened as she stretched out her arms. "I am Maria, Ricardo's mother. It is about time a woman brought down my son to his knees and taught him that the life he's been leading so far is no way to live. Not to forget how boring it is without love and good sex, eh?" Thus said she drew me down to her to envelop me in a bone-crashing hug. "_Gracias_," she whispered into my ear before letting go of me, patting my arm, and stepping to the hospital bed, looking him over.

Carlos squirmed under the concerned, scrutinizing look, boggling my mind some more. "I'm fine, Mama."

"We'll let Celia decide that once she arrives," she replied, patting his hand.

He made a face. "Celia? I don't need Celia to come over here. Why have you called her?"

Maria clicked with her tongue. "First of all, my only source were the news and all they said was that you are seriously hurt. Second, I don't see why I shouldn't call your sister who happens to be a world class surgeon when I have to learn through television that my eldest son not only was kidnapped and hurt, but is recently married as well. Third, it is a shame that I had to be the one to call Celia at all. What good is it to have a brilliant doctor in the family if you don't take advantage of it - especially you in your line of work. The first call David should have done was to your sister - then to me and your father. It was pure luck I was in the area to catch the news, having had to attend a meeting in town."

From the look on Carlos' face, he wouldn't have called it luck. I chuckled. It was really refreshing and reassuring to see that even he had his own troubles dealing with family.

"At least tell me Celia is the only one you called," he grumbled with a dark look.

"Of course not. You may prefer your family learning important things about you trough television but I certainly was not to let them have the same shock upon watching the news as I had," she told him with a look that would have had me going to my room and not dare stuck even a tote out of it for a long while. As it was, Batman too squirmed some more. "Your father is on his way in from DC, along with Christina and your abuela. Elena is flying up as we speak and Alejandro will come as soon as possible. As Nadia is still in Africa, she obviously can't come but she sends her best wishes and is very excited to meet her new sister once she comes back in three months."

"The whole clan? You called them all to descend on us now?" he asked, incredulous and with what looked a tiny bit like panic.

"Well, what did you expect? You are sick, of course we come. Plus, we are all very excited to meet our new daughter and sister," Maria replied innocently, reaching out to pat my hand. I got the impression she was quite a patter. Of course, with what, six kids, I guess you had to become a pro at padding. Jesus. And they were all going to come here to meet me and expect answers? Suddenly I didn't feel so good anymore. It must have shown as my hand experienced more patting and Carlos took my hand and tugged me to sit down on his bed. "Now, don't you worry, cariña, we don't bite. And they'll love you." Her eyes slid to her son. "You on the other hand, you'll have to answer some questions."

I looked back at Carlos, just in time to see something else truly marveling. He was biting his lips, looking sideways, seemingly confused. It did something to my heart that usually only cute animals or a really good pleading look from an innocent one can do to it and while I enjoyed seeing the man squirming at last, I suddenly felt the need to come to his rescue. Besides, I had no idea how many details Tank had told him about our supposed marriage. Plus, there was the problem that the room may be bugged so he couldn't come clean right now.

Shit, what a mess.

Interlacing my fingers with his, I faced Maria. "Please don't be mad. It was really a spur of the moment decision and then everything happened so fast... We planned to go to our families next, but then he got kidnapped and..." My voice conveniently trailed off. It was really hard to remember the past three weeks though. But at least this way, I hadn't been too specific and it could very well also apply to the specialty of our current situation. Still... I didn't like lying or at least further omitting things to Maria. Married or not, I planned to be in Carlos' life for a very long time and that meant close involvement with his family. For them to meet me in such a confusing time was dishearting to say the least.

Only when I felt Carlos' thumb running soothingly over the back of my hand did I grow aware of how tight I was gripping his hand. Loosening up on my grip, I flashed him a reassuring smile before looking back at Maria whose face had softened considerably. Stepping forward, she stroke over my cheek, but said nothing. Strangely enough, she didn't need to. We understood each other perfectly in that moment.

"Babe, I told Tank to arrange my release. Why don't you go and check on the status," Carlos asked softly.

Of course I knew that he only asked so he could be alone with his mother for a moment, however, it didn't stop me from turning on him, incredulous. "Released? You're in no shape to be already released from the hospital! Almost every bone in your body is broken!"

"Only about a dozen or so," Carlos corrected me in his usual annoying stoic manner.

Perhaps he thought it funny. Well, in that case, someone should give him a lesson on good humor. "Not funny, Carlos. I didn't spent three weeks a complete mess and the last three days sitting vigil on your bedside, waiting for you to get better, for you destroying all the little healing your body managed to do by being a stubborn macho trying to prove your machismo."

His eyes darkened. "Stephanie..."

"Don't Stephanie me. I'm serious here. You're not leaving this hospital a day sooner than the doctor tell you to. And once you do leave, you'll follow exactly their instructions." He opened his mouth again but I didn't let him get one syllable out. "And don't come me with Rangeman. You've got Tank and a whole army of men in black that can take care of business for a while. The world won't end if you lay low until you're fit for duty again." Again he opened his mouth and again I wouldn't let him say one word. "Not to mention that they can do without you if necessary. I can't. And I need you strong and healthy because you know me, it won't be long and I'll be in trouble again and then I depend on you to get me out of it, so for heaven's sake, do what the good doctor tells you to for once in your life."

He regarded me awfully calmly, his lips twitching just a tiny bit and I had a feeling that I just - once again - had made a real big fool out of myself. "You finished now?"

I gave him one major glare.

The twitching smoothed out into a real smile. "The only reason I'll be released is because after that news flash, everyone, family, friend or foe, knows where to find me. And you. It's not safe anymore. That's why we need to relocate to Rangeman, where I've got two first class medics there to provide me with all the care I still need. Besides," he waved at his mother, "you heard Mama, one of the world's best doctors is on the way here, and believe me, she's worse than you and Mama put together at hovering when it concerns one of her patients. I promise it's all going to be bed rest for the next few days, just not in this bed. I'll be a good little boy."

Maria snorted, reminding me of her presence, which was good. The grin he flashed me tightened things deep down that had no business tightening right now. Not with him this hurt. Not with his mother standing right there. And certainly not with the mess we were still in. Time to get out of there, I decided. "Oh." Always the eloquent one, am I not? "Well, I guess I'll go looking for Tank then," I said, smiling weakly at them and making a hasty retreat.

Well, that had gone well, huh?

Groaning, I sank against the wall outside Carlos' room and banged my head against it. This was so not my day.

* * *

Mama smiled after Stephanie. "Ah si, that woman has fire," she repeated her earlier statement in Spanish. Turning back to me, she fixed me with one of her scary stares. "She is good for you."

"I know," I answered devotedly back in Spanish. It was true enough. Probably, my babe would bring me into an early grave but the life until then - it promised to be good.

"At least you married the one you've been talking about for a while now. She the one who saved Julie, si?" At my confirmation, she nodded. "She has her heart at the right place. She's beautiful. She's brave. And she loves you deeply. That is all good. So why not bring her home even once? Why marry her without telling us, all in secret? You that ashamed of your family, your origins?"

"Mama, no," I protested and sighed. My relationship with my family was complicated, then again, when wasn't that generally the case? I had issues growing up, troubling adjusting to the expectations my family, my father, had in me. So I rebelled, which got me in trouble, which in turn landed me in the army. For over a decade, I lived and breathed army. Special ops. Which alienated me even further from the rest of the clan. But there never was shame involved. And as crazy and sometimes annoying my family could be, we loved each other unconditionally. Though it took me a while to understand that.

All the more reason why I was surprised myself that apparently, neither Steph's nor my family had a clue about our marriage. It bothered me. Why should we have kept our relationship secret? Why have a ceremony without at least some family members being present?

I still couldn't remember anything of my marriage and it was starting to annoy me. Steph had said it had been spur of the moment but that wasn't really me. Usually. Of course, with my babe involved, anything was possible. Garbage trucks fell on porsches. A mafia boss flagged down her car to go get a smoke. A Rangeman car got stolen, with her inside while usually no one in Trenton and around would even dare to lean on one of my cars. So if someone could make me jump over my own shadow and bring me to whisk Stephanie away to get married on a whim, it was my Babe.

Still - it didn't really sit well with me and I had the nagging feeling that there was an important reason behind that.

"Why then? Ricardo?" Mama pried further.

However, I doubted it would do much good if I admitted to my mother that I have no memory of my marriage whatsoever. And while it was hard to lie to Mama, I could pull it off, if absolutely necessary, thanks to my army training. So I shrugged. "There is no other reason than that we didn't plan to marry. We just had that magic moment where we knew it's what we wanted and we did it before we let circumstances or the doubts of other people talk us out of it again. As soon as we'd have been settled we'd have told everyone but then I got kidnapped and Stephanie simply didn't think of it anymore." That at least was the most likely scenario based on Steph's words and what I caught from the news report. Perhaps it had happened exactly this way. I hoped it did. I wasn't sure I'd like any other scenario.

Well, apart of one maybe, I thought, thinking back to mama's question of my Babe being pregnant. While I agreed with her that it was hardly the time to have a baby together and that even then, it's no reason to get married on the spot - I would have married her. Not because it was the right thing to do, like Steph said, been there, done that, but because I love her and it would been the perfect excuse to finally and very officially make her mine.

Mama was silent, just looking at me. Not for the first time since she barged into the room, I squirmed. Some things, not even the harshest training could remove from your very genes. But at least my thorough training enabled me to out-silence her. Sometimes. Looked like today was my lucky day.

"And why were we not informed that you have been kidnapped? Or now are lying hurt in the hospital for three days already?"

Or not. "Tank..."

"David is a good boy who knows what is right," Mama interrupted me, sternly. "The only reason he wouldn't call your family is if you instructed him otherwise."

"There was no need to worry you guys until he knew something concrete. And once they retrieved me, my injuries weren't life threatening or considerably grave so again, no need to worry you either," I explained, shortly.

My family wasn't stupid. They knew I had a dangerous job. That it involved high risks and the occasional injury. In general, they already worried a lot about me, especially Mama. No need to fuel that worry by calling them whenever I was down or got a bit too close to the enemy. Not that it was that many times. Still. Tank and my men were instructed to call them only when it was really necessary. Like when it wasn't sure I'd make it. Or when I've been MA for at least three months. It was a good deal, for all of us - which was maybe why Mama said nothing else on that topic but changed the topic while she dragged a chair over to the bed and sat down, obviously to stay. "So, Ricardo, now that you are married, when will you start giving me grandchildren, ones that I actually get to see and spoil on a regular basis?"

Suppressing a groan, I slid down on the bed.

"You two shouldn't wait too long. You are not the youngest anymore so if you want to have a bunch of kids from your Stephanie, you better hurry and start with the first one."

Nope, it was definitely not my lucky day, I thought darkly.

* * *

"Aunt Maria is here? Oh boy, now mi primo really is in trouble," Lester laughed, the glee easily detectible over the phone.

"He's not the only one," Tank answered, not in the mood for Lester's acts right now. "Most of all you though. If you hadn't given the bombshell this stupid ring, we wouldn't be this deep in shit now."

"Jeez, what's gotten to you?" Lester asked, nonplussed.

Ignoring him, Tank gave his orders. "Ranger wants to be released and relocated to Rangeman, now that everyone knows where he's to find. I've talked to his doctor, he wasn't very happy about it but he'll have him discharged within the next couple of hours. Get everything ready in his apartment and alert the medic and Lena. Also, you best get the guest rooms ready as well. From what I understand, the whole Manoso clan is on his way to Boston. I'll be shortly with you too. We need to tighten the security on all Rangeman buildings and I have to get a start on what piled up over the last weeks. Bobby, you stay here and oversee Ranger's relocation. Coordinate with Celia if necessary. I'm not sure when she arrives but it should be soon. Oh and Lester? Send over two new teams for the bombshell duty."

That caught both Bobby and Lester by surprise. Lester was the first to recover. "Whatever for? Between you, me, Bobby and the guard on Ranger's room we have more than enough men on her."

"We're off her detail," Tank gruffly said, still having a hard time believing Ranger's anger would get so far as that.

"What?" Bobby exclaimed, staring at him, the white in his eyes becoming very prominent.

"Ranger's orders. Anyone involved with using Stephanie as bait is off her detail and persona non grata in his presence until further notice," Tank told them bitterly.

Dead silence filled the car and the line over to Lester's cell.

"That's not funny, Tank," Lester said after a long while, all humor gone from his voice.

Tank closed his eyes and sighed. "He is really, really pissed, guys. And he was dead serious. For the time being, we're out of the trust circle."

More shocked silence.

"Maybe we shouldn't risk getting banned even more and set him straight about the marriage then," Bobby eventually suggested. "Before he's firing us for good - if he lets us live."

"No," Lester objected right away. "We're already so far out of the dog house, it hardly matters anymore. If anything, it is our chance to get back in. After all, how can he resist the guys who helped him to blissful happiness?"

"Shit, Les, do you know him at all? Lying to him is bad enough but continue even after this? He'll never trust us again!" Bobby flared up. "Tank, you tell him! We need to come clean, guys."

Keeping his eyes still firmly shut, Tank seriously wished to be in another place in another time. Preferably a month back so he could warn Ranger of the attack and nothing of all this would happen. No such luck though. Here he was, maybe having lost his best friend already and if not, most likely being on the brick to do it for good by feeding him a lie he knew he wasn't going to forgive easily. Having to make that decision. "You already talked to the Bombshell? Tell her the cover story?" he asked Bobby.

"Yeah. She didn't like it one bit," he answered and frowned. "She went along with it in the end though."

"See? All the more reason to stick to the plan," Lester argued with vehemence.

Bobby shook his head. "So what? We simply tell her what he thinks and she'll set it straight. Or we spare Ranger the humiliation and set him straight without her ever having to know the truth. If anything, that may give us some plus points again after all."

"Stop," Tank ordered when Les started to say something else. They fell silent on the spot, sensing the danger looming otherwise and let him think.

And think he did, hard and headache giving intensely but it didn't really bring him any further. There were two ways to go: With his gut and come clean with Ranger or with his heart and give Ranger and Steph time to either figure it out on their own - or, as they all hoped for, let them get so accustomed to being married that they wouldn't even dream of separating again.

Usually, he trusted his gut, always went with it. But it was one thing to have to either go along with your gut or your mind or Intel. Or with your heart or with reason. Which way did you go though when it was gut or heart?

In the end, he decided it had to be the heart. Simply because going with his gut would maybe save his friendship, but he wasn't so sure about Ranger's happiness. While the heart was only aiming for said happiness and nothing else, even if it cost them all a great friendship and deep brotherhood. And their jobs.

Slowly opening his eyes, he faced Bobby as he announced his decision. "We'll stick to the plan."

Over the phone, Lester whooped while Bobby groaned, giving Tank an almost baleful look. "Okay. It's your call. I still think that soon we'll look back to this day and think of it as the worst day of our lives, taking every wrong turn we could possibly take."

Probably Bobby was right. Tank still hoped that maybe, just maybe, it would be the other way around though.

* * *

_(On the other side of the world)_

"He's married?"

"Apparently so, yes. A month ago only, shortly before our men in Boston got to him. As soon as they learned of the wife, they took her too."

"And?"

"They got rescued by his men before any results could be delivered and I just received confirmation that our men are all dead or in custody."

"They talking?"

"No, Sir. They know if they do, it's their families that will pay the price. They'll rather die. Also, the ones that survived are thugs, nothing more. They don't know details or any names."

"Good. Get the plane ready. It's time I take care of this myself."

"Of course. You want me to make the usual arrangements?"

"Yes. And get me everything on the woman. What's her name?"

"Stephanie Manos, born Plum. This here is a photo of her, taken only yesterday."

"Well, well, Manoso sure has taste. I'll be looking forward to meet the lovely Mrs Manoso. Thinking about it, make sure the playground is ready as well."

"Certainly, Sir."

* * *

TBC!

_(Author's note: Hope you liked it as well, guys! As always, thank you so very much for the many wonderful reviews you left me for the last chapter. I'm working on the next chapter but I don't think I'll be able to get it out before June. From next week on I have holidays and on the 18th I'm off to New York for ten days. I can't wait to be so close to Steph's home and see it with my own eyes at last - but I doubt I'll have much time to write anything. But after that, and juiced up with a lot of new inspiration, I hope for another chapter real soon once I'm back.)_


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